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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25392574">Darkest Day: Reborn (ON HOLD)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkCanid19/pseuds/DarkCanid19'>DarkCanid19</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Legendary: Reborn [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword &amp; Shield | Pokemon Sword &amp; Shield Versions</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Angst, Anxiety, Black Night | Darkest Day (Pokemon), Depression, Enemies to Lovers, Galar-chihou | Galar Region (Pokemon), Gay, Hop is sad, Implied Sexual Content, Legendary AU, Legendary Pokemon, M/M, Not Beta Read, Pokemon, Pokemon Sword &amp; Shield Spoilers, Remake, Shinou-chihou | Sinnoh Region (Pokemon), Talking Pokemon, but they like all overcome their problems, el just vibes(?), leon is a bi mess, look haha i gave the pokemon nicknames, look it's me self-projecting again look at me goo weee, raihan is an Ass, this is why i've been on hiatus, zacian is male dont @ me</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 12:35:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>28,889</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25392574</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkCanid19/pseuds/DarkCanid19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Eliana, Champion of Sinnoh, returns to Galar after ten years. Even if it started off as a vacation, things suddenly take a turn for the worse. With whispers of the Sword and Shield, nightmares of an unknown and alien creature, rumors of a supposed Darkest Day approaching, and shiny pokemon chaos, it's up to her and her good friends Leon and Raihan, and eventually Hop, to save Galar before it crumbles under darkness.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Beet | Bede/Hop, Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan, Implied Oleana/Rose</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Legendary: Reborn [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1839070</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/enbyCrowing/gifts">enbyCrowing</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hah, yeah. This is the whole reason I've been so slow with updates. Now that I'm remaking Darkest Day and revamping the story of Legendary itself, I hope that this version is longer, better, and hopefully has better storytelling. I really hope you guys enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>When it’s time for you to venture out, don’t let fear have you looking back at what you’re leaving behind.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Explosions could be heard from the small, usually quiet, town of Postwick. Usually quiet, as in large, open fields of just Wooloo, maybe a few houses dotted here and there. But no, today had to be disruptive. The reason? A pokemon battle. A commemorative one of sorts, though, so no one necessarily blamed them for it. An exciting occasion, really.</p><p><br/>
 It wasn’t every day that someone got their first pokemon, after all.</p><p> “Water Gun!”</p><p> Sobble squeaked in fright at the sudden, angry command. She quickly obeyed, though, not keen on getting scolded for losing its first battle.</p><p> Her opponent easily dodged it, though, issuing a Smokescreen. The Charmander growled, tail flaring in an attempt of intimidation. A horrible way to lose, really, against your own type advantage. But this was Leon we’re talking about. He’s been waiting for this day for his entire life.</p><p> Eliana had been, too, and she was not going to lose this.</p><p> “Come on, you can do it!” she encouraged Sobble, trying a different approach. “Just focus on your target and you’ll have a clear shot!”</p><p> But where was the target? The Smokescreen from earlier had covered the entire battlefield, hiding Charmander perfectly and ruining any of Sobble’s chances of getting an accurate hit.</p><p> “Dragon Rage!”</p><p> Sobble yelped as a plume of purple fire hit her from behind. She struggled to stay on her feet, but failed miserably and crumpled forwards, giving a defeated cry.</p><p> Eliana let out a groan of frustration, cuffing the dirt with her heel. There was no way she had just lost. But she took a deep breath to contain her anger, recalling Sobble into her pokeball for a rest.</p><p> “I hate you so much,” she muttered as she joined her rival at the other end of the field.</p><p> Leon smirked. “Can’t stand losing to a boy?”</p><p> “Don’t you dare pull that card on me, o Great One.”</p><p> He laughed, crossing his arms. “That was a good one, though,” he tried, not wanting to stoke his friend’s temper any more than it already was. “You had me backed into a corner there. I thought it was the end for sure!”</p><p> “Now you’re just being dramatic,” Eliana sighed. “Honestly, could you get any more annoying?”</p><p> “You sound a lot like Sonia.”</p><p> “She’s got a point.”</p><p> Charmander climbed his way onto Leon’s shoulder, giving a small chirp. Okay, Eliana thought that was absolutely adorable. She couldn’t stay mad at that. She reached out to scratch him under the chin, earning a pleased purr from the small lizard.</p><p> “Well, winning and losing aside, that’s one step closer to being Champion,” Leon continued.</p><p> Eliana rolled her eyes. “You just brought winning and losing back into it again. You’re horrible at this.”</p><p> Leon gave her a hurt pout. “Jealous,” he said to her, poking her on the shoulder.”</p><p> “Am not!”</p><p> “Are too!”</p><p> “You two are terrible,” came a voice from behind them.</p><p> Leon’s face lit up, which told Eliana absolutely everything she needed to know that it was Raihan.</p><p> “What’re you doing in Postwick?” Leon asked, suddenly forgetting the battle and the argument that was taking place.</p><p> Raihan shrugged, hands in his pockets as always. “I was in the area training you know who when I thought I’d stop by,” he replied, giving a shrug. He still kept his eyes to the ground, never making eye contact with anyone. It was like that ever since he moved to Galar from Unova, though he claimed that he wasn’t shy, just a selective listener.</p><p> “What do you mean, ‘you know who’?” Eliana questioned. “That weird orange thing?”</p><p> “That weird orange thing has a name!” Raihan went to gesture to said pokemon, but paused when he noticed her absence. He searched around him frantically, nearly stepping on his Roggenrola in the process. The one thing that told him where his new catch went off to was the scream of pain from Leon, who was trying to pry a Trapinch off from his fingers. Raihan yelped, rushing forwards to help him.</p><p> “Still wild as ever, huh?” Eliana giggled, watching the two boys fall to the ground in an attempt to get Trapinch loose, with Leon crying, “GET IT OFF GET IT OFF!” the entire time. Charmander and Rogganrola circled them, giving concerned calls and trying to dodge the flailing limbs.</p><p> After some intense struggling, Raihan went flying with Trapinch in his hands onto his behind, an angry expression carved into his features. “What did I say?” he scolded. “No biting.” He waggled his finger for emphasis, only to have Trapinch trill and nip at it.</p><p> As Leon cradled his sore hand, Charmander cooed and nudged him, making sure he was okay. Roggenrola even was concerned, doing the best he could to be comforting despite only being a living rock with feet.</p><p> “I am so sorry about that,” Raihan apologized, eyes wide with worry. “She’s still being trained, and I don’t know how to break that habit. I guess it’s in her nature.”</p><p> “Trapinch were designed to bite things and not let go,” Eliana began before Leon cut her off.</p><p> “Oh, it’s fine! Not the worst I’ve been through!” he boasted.</p><p> “Oh really?”</p><p> Raihan was suddenly more worried than before.</p><p> “There was this one time an Unfezant invaded our garden, so I went out to shoo it away. And then it went woosh  and I was like WOAH, and then-”</p><p> “Please, spare us,” Eliana muttered. </p><p> “Were you hurt?” Raihan fretted, intrigued.</p><p> “Don’t encourage him.”</p><p> “Well, I had this nasty gash in my arm from where it attacked me, and I guess that scarred,” Leon explained, looking for evidence to support his story.</p><p> Eliana put a hand over his mouth, smiling at Raihan. “In other words, he didn’t die, so there’s that. Second off, do you ever shut your trap?”</p><p> Leon said something, but it was muffled by Eliana’s hand. His brows furrowed in annoyance, moving away from her. “Anyways,” he added, still at it. “It never came back after that. I think I scared it pretty good!”</p><p> Raihan didn’t seem impressed. “That’s… not what I had in mind for ‘I’ve been through worse’,” he observed. “I would have expected you to come up with a story of a legendary trying to rip your head off or something.”</p><p> “That’s an oddly specific suggestion,” Eliana commented. “Are you implying something here, or did I miss the sarcasm in that sentence?”</p><p> Rahian went pale. “No reason!” he blurted. “Just an assumption.” He looked down to the ground again, fear flashing in his teal eyes. Trapinch looked up at him from his arms and squealed.</p><p> “Right.”</p><p> Leon flashed Eliana a displeased frown.</p><p> “What? He said something crazy, and I went from there. Is that so hard to handle?”</p><p> He only sighed, shaking his head. “You are too much,” he mumbled, earning a very flushed glare from the other.</p><p> “I gotta go,” Raihan said, already walking away. Roggenrola tried to follow him, chirping and crying for him to slow down so that its little legs could handle it.</p><p> Leon watched him go sadly, while Eliana shrugged and let Sobble out to tend to her. She kept to herself, an angry frown stuck to her face as she helped treat Sobble’s burns. Leon approached her,  cautious at first, but determined to cheer her up.</p><p> “What’s up with you?” he asked, sitting down on the grass beside her. “You’re never like this. Poor Raihan looked like he could faint.”</p><p> “Lee, I-” Eliana paused, unsure of what to tell him. A lot of things were up, actually, and she wanted to just tell him and get it over with, but she didn’t want to hurt him too badly. “Well,” she began, voice quivering, “you know how my parents are in Sinnoh for work, right? How they let me bunk with your family here while they finished up whatever they were doing there?”</p><p> “Yeah?” Leon looked like he knew where this was going already.</p><p> Eliana took a deep breath, already losing herself. “They’re not comfortable with me staying at a boy’s house. You know, getting older, having the Talk, that kind of stuff.” She sniffed, trying to keep a smile on her face.</p><p> “You don’t have to stay in my room,” Leon tried frantically. “I can just stay in the living room and crash on the couch, so you don’t have to…” He didn’t even finish the sentence.</p><p> “Lee, they’ve already arranged for me to move to Sinnoh. Twinleaf Town is nice this time of year, or so I’ve heard.”</p><p> He shook his head somberly. “When,” he demanded, golden eyes flashing with a broken heart.</p><p> Eliana looked down. “Three days. No sooner, no later. I’ve already asked them to make it a week more, but they said no. I… Gosh, I’m going to miss this. Plus leaving so close to the Gym Challenge entries… Leon, I’m so sorry. I wish I could-”</p><p> “Stop.”</p><p> “What?” She blinked, trying to understand what was going on in that head of his. By the look of it, his face was pretty grim and serious, which was a very rare sight for him.</p><p> “Sinnoh is an amazing opportunity. If you take on the Gym Challenge there, you’ll be Champion for sure!” Suddenly Leon wasn’t so serious, growing enthusiastic again.</p><p> “Have you seen their Champion? Cynthia’s the most talented one out there!”</p><p> “Which makes you even more talented!” Leon insisted. He beamed, giving her that wide smile that was just too idiotic to turn down. “When you come back to Galar, we’ll have a match just for the two of us. Champion against Champion!”</p><p> Eliana cocked a brow. “Who said you’d be the Champion, anyways?”</p><p> Leon froze, frowning a little. Then he shook it off, going in one ear and out the other without having the chance to process. “What do you say? Deal?” He held out his hand, but Eliana stopped him as he raised it to his mouth.</p><p> “Don’t you dare.”</p><p> “What?”</p><p> “You were gonna spit in it, weren’t you?”</p><p> Leon spluttered. “Was not!”</p><p> “Oh, just shake my hand, you daft idiot.” Eliana sighed, rolling her eyes, muttering a quiet boys under her breath as Leon eagerly shook her hand.</p><p> “Just so you know, I’m gonna be the one to curbstomp you into the ground when we battle again,” she suddenly bragged, making Leon still in surprise.</p><p> “Hah! Over my dead body!”</p><p> “I can arrange that,” Eliana teased. “The Spiritomb over there are pretty ruthless.”</p><p>Her friend paled, stuttering for a moment.</p><p>“It’s a joke, Leon.”</p><p>“I knew that!” he lied, crossing his arms disdainfully.</p><p>“Sure you did.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Hello, Galar</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Eliana finally returns home, meeting up with some old friends.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Coming home is one of the most beautiful things.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The salty sea breeze was very different compared to the smell of lake water, and less, well, salty. It had been ages since she’d seen the ocean, or at least went out on it. As in, with nothing in sight but the ocean, the sounds of waves splashing against the boat, cries of Wingull and Pelliper overhead, and the wind buffeting everything it touched. Eliana couldn’t remember the last time she had been on a boat. Right, it had been her business trip to Kalos. That trip had certainly been eventful. When she wasn’t meeting with the World League officials, she was speaking with the region’s professor. Sycamore was a nice guy, sure, when you could actually understand his ramblings that had various Kalosian words in them. He was probably the only person that could say “hon hon baguette” and make you think it was a pokemon. The only thing Eliana had gone to Kalos at all for was to study mega evolution. Which was a major success, given that she already had two stones and a mega ring.</p><p> But this time it wasn’t a business trip with official League stuff. It was supposed to be a nice, relaxing vacation after all the stress and trauma she had gone under recently. You’d expect her to pick Alola, the most popular vacation spot in the world, but she had somewhere else in mind that would be much more worth it.<br/>
 </p><p>“<em>When did you say the boat was docking again?</em>”</p><p> “Don’t you mean where?”</p><p> The person on the other line frowned at her, not amused. “<em>My sense of direction isn’t that horrible,</em>” Leon argued, giving the same defeated pout that he had always made when they were younger. Some things never change, even after ten years.<br/>
 </p><p>“So I’ve heard,” Eliana replied sarcastically. “Anyways, in about fifteen minutes. I think I see the outline of Galar in the distance. Or I could be hallucinating. All this sun must be getting to me.” She held the back of her hand to her head and gave a dramatic sigh to add to that.</p><p> “<em>You poor thing.</em>”<br/>
 </p><p>“Exactly. This is why I’m taking a vacation. Hell, Cynthia took them all the time to Unova. There’s a reason Undella Town is almost deserted in that area around the summer. I don’t blame them. I think I might have PTSD from that experience.” She chuckled, though she wasn’t exactly sure if that was a full joke or not. She couldn’t sleep for a week after the hell Cynthia’s pokemon put her through.</p><p> “<em>Add that to the list of reasons why Raihan won’t step foot in Unova again</em>,” Leon mused.<br/>
 </p><p>“I think you mean excuses.”</p><p> “<em>No, he’s literally terrified to even talk about the place. Must have been an experience with his parents or something</em>.”<br/>
 </p><p>Eliana frowned. “He and his mom have never seen eye-to-eye. I guess that would explain some things.” She thought for a moment. “Do you think that’s part of the reason she just left him there?”</p><p> “<em>Whatever the reason, it was better for him. Remember how shy he was</em>?” Leon laughed.<br/>
 </p><p>“All too well.” Eliana giggled, remembering the first time they met. Leon, being the extrovert he was, was determined to make friends with the new kid to the region, wanting to know absolutely everything he could about Unova. Raihan had panicked and shut down for a while after that, but he became more open to them as time went on. Granted with the fact that they hardly ever saw him because he lives halfway across the region from them.</p><p> “<em>He is so much more confident. You should see him in battle. Sends chills down my spine</em>.”</p><p> </p><p> “For reasons.”</p><p> Leon glared at her.</p><p> “Come on, we all know you like him.” Eliana winked at him through the phone, earning an exasperated growl from the other line. “Hey, who knows: Maybe he likes you back.”</p><p> Leon actually paused at that. “<em>Right. Sure</em>,” he replied quickly. “<em>The service must be shit out there. You’re breaking up real bad.</em>”<br/>
 </p><p>“Leon, this is a fuckin cruise. It has WiFi.”</p><p> “<em>Sorry, can’t hear you</em>!”</p><p> “Wait, you’re-”</p><p> And just like that, he hung up. Eliana couldn't help but laugh aloud at that, drawing the attention of her sleeping pokemon. Leon’s always been cautious around conversations like that. The moment he had come out as gay to her a few years ago, everything that they had gone through together back at Galar hit her like a truck. It had all made so much more sense. Especially the way he had drooled over Raihan like a Yamper to a piece of bacon.</p><p> She took a deep breath and looked out over the water, watching a group of Mantyke and Mantine jump and play beside the ship. The closer they got to Galar, the more unique pokemon showed up. Namely some Barraskewda and the likes, but then again, Galar didn’t have that many water-type pokemon that were special only to that region in particular. It was more regional variants more than anything. Eliana still swore that Indeedee were some weird malformed version of  Audino. Or maybe the other way around. Who knows these days? For all we know, Dragonair might evolve into Milotic while Dragonite were standalone pokemon. Which was an actual current debate in the scientific indnd yes, Eliana did catch up on that from time to time. Though she was more into the legendary pokemon phenomena more than anything. Pseudo-legendaries were a side study for her.</p><p> “Alright, guys. How about we make sure we have everything before we dock?” Eliana asked her pokemon, who sleepily murmured agreement. In other words, they didn’t give two shits.</p><p> Lucario was the only one to actually seem like he cared, but drifted slowly back to sleep just as he was moving to help. The sun did that. Most of her pokemon were lazy when it came to trips like this, anyways. But it was high time to relax. They all needed it.<br/>
She couldn’t be more excited to see actual outlines of cities in the far horizon, knowing that she was getting closer to home. The closest she’d been in nearly ten years.<br/>
It made her wonder how much had changed.</p><p>---</p><p> Charizard lazily watched his Trainer scramble around trying to find something to wear. He had never been the best with outfits, but it wasn’t like the dragon could help him there. He was usually the one to ask for directions, not apparel choices. It was a wonder why his mother still didn’t choose his clothes for him still. Charizard yawned, stretching out his legs to get more room.<br/>
 </p><p>“Alright, I think I have everything. How do I look?” Leon put his hands at his hips and smiled, though Charizard only sniffed and gave a low whine.</p><p> “You’re right,” Leon commented. “It’s missing something.” He thought for a moment, looking around for something to add. Charizard watched, just waiting for the moment for Hop’s name to be yelled as loud as it could.</p><p> “Hop!”</p><p> There it was.</p><p> “What?”</p><p> “Where’s my hat?”</p><p> The sounds of footsteps on the stairs told Charizard that the said nuisance was on his way. Hop peeked his head into the room, Scorbunny on his shoulder. “Which one?” he asked, gesturing to the vast collection of them on the wall.</p><p> “You know,” Leon tried, searching for the right words. “The black one.”</p><p> Hop raised a brow, eyeing the various “black ones” on the shelves.</p><p> “T-the one with the yellow stripes. My favorite one?”</p><p> “That’s all you had to say. Honestly,” Hop muttered, disappearing for a couple minutes before returning with the hat in question on his head. Leon snagged it, bumping Hop’s shoulder with it.</p><p> “Thank you,” he said softly, too distracted by getting it placed perfectly more than anything.</p><p> Hop joined Charizard in watching him struggle to grab everything in time and be out the door before it was too late. In the meantime, Hop grabbed one of the magazines  laying on the bed, taking a look at the front cover.</p><p> “Seriously? Were you drooling over a picture of you and Raihan together before you realized what time it was?” he admonished, tossing it aside. Charizard huffed at it when it landed on his snout, sending the thing flying away.</p><p> Leon paused in trying to tame his mess of hair, blushing profusely. “I was not. I was on the phone with El, you perv.” He exhaled deeply, soothing his rising anger. “Besides, you’re only twelve. You shouldn’t even know what pornos are.”</p><p> “It’s not like I’ve looked at them. I know enough from the way Raihan talks when he’s around. If anyone’s the perv, it’s him,” Hop argued, laying back on the bad. </p><p> Charizard whined again, scooting aside to avoid making contact with him. But he was losing room fast. The dragon lifted his head, giving Hop a glare with so much venom in it that it could kill twenty Corviknight mid-flight.</p><p> “What?” Hop asked with the same venom, ignoring the dragon’s flaring tail as it swayed dangerously close to his head.</p><p> Charizard growled, turning to Leon and giving a distressed howl.</p><p> “Will you two kids knock it off?” he sighed, not paying attention.</p><p> “He started it,” Hop mumbled, crossing his arms and still not budging. Charizard snarled at that.</p><p> This time Scorbunny climbed his way onto the bed, invading Charizard’s personal space even more. The rabbit churred, rubbing against the dragon lovingly before he hissed and pushed the poor thing back onto the floor.</p><p> “Alright, that’s it. Out, both of you,” Leon demanded. “I’m late enough as it is, and I don’t want to deal with you two again. Take it outside.”</p><p> Hop rolled his eyes, sliding dramatically off the bed and giving a fake distressed sigh. “Why do you have to leave again?”</p><p> “Because I’m an adult and I have to actually work for my title.” He pushed them out of the room. “Champion. Don’t do it, kids.” That was the last thing Hop heard before the door was shut in his face.</p><p> He looked at Charizard, frowning. “Are you just gonna go out and set another flower bush on fire or what?”<br/>
 The pokemon chuffed, turning his back to the Trainer and sauntered down the stairs. Scorbunny trilled and ran after him, causing the dragon to give out a very annoyed roar.</p><p>---</p><p> “Hello, Hammerlocke!” Eliana called out to the Wild Area, sending various Rookidee flying away. Not a single thing had changed on the outside, at least, so there was that. She couldn’t say the same for the Wild Area, though. She had only been there a few times as a kid, but it still wasn’t that small back then. Welp, there’s economic growth for you.<br/>
 </p><p>She had missed the place, really. So many pokemon, so many opportunities. She remembered spending her last day in Galar here, just outside of Hammerlocke just so Raihan could say goodbye, too. It was one of the best days of her life. The absolute chaos that ensued with the three of them was insane. Eliana wished she could have fun like that again.</p><p> The initial plan for the day was to meet up with each other outside of the Hammerlocke Gym, then make their way into the Wild Area in an attempt to stoke up some of those old memories.</p><p> She couldn’t contain her excitement as she made it to the top of those stairs. It seemed like Hammerlocke hadn’t changed at all. It was still fashioned and medieval as always. But it had more dragonesque flair to it nowadays. The city had Raihan to thank for that.</p><p>  Besides Eliana becoming the Sinnoh Champion over recent years, there had been a lot more major accomplishments as well. For one thing, Leon became Champion of Galar the same year Eliana had left. Passing that the first try was something the region, nor the entire world, had seen in years. It had even taken Eliana at least four years to make her way up to the Champion status. But no, Leon had to beat her in everything and get there before she did. He didn’t even have that much competition, either. Cynthia, however, had been a waking nightmare. Raihan and Sonia, despite being Leon’s best friends, were also his greatest rivals. Despite his lack of confidence and ability to socialize, Raihan had seemed accustomed to battling as soon as he tried it. Leon had said that it might have been his own confidence that overflowed into his good friend, which probably was true, but Raihan himself had explained that it was just because he was getting used to everything around him. Well, whatever story was true, he had been successful. If it weren’t for Leon keeping his ten-nil win streak, he would have been Champion himself. But instead he had settled for the eighth gym leader. That didn’t mean he gave up. Oh, he kept trying so hard to win, but Leon swept his team out from under him before he could even think every time.</p><p> Speaking of gyms, Eliana had just reached it. It was a lot more refined than before, that’s for damn sure. A lot less broken-looking and all. No one would think it, but Raihan was actually very fickle and detail-oriented when it came to stuff like this. It was his old anxiety bubbling up again in the form of OCD. In a way, it was perfect, since it had given Hammerlocke so much more flair to it ever since he was practically put in charge of the place. In other situations, though… Well, Eliana heard about it enough from Leon lately.</p><p> That man found the weirdest things to complain about, and it made her laugh.</p><p> She was just about to walk in when someone cried, “LOOK OUT!” from behind her. She whipped around, only to see a blur of navy blue before she was struck to the ground with a rush of freezing air. A Drakloak squealed in surprise at what he had just hit, scrambling off her before he got yelled at.</p><p> “Ah, jeez. I’m so sorry about that. He’s new, plus he’s had some experiences that made the poor thing terrified of new people. We’re working on it. You alright?”</p><p> Eliana groaned, rubbing her head. “Yeah, I’ve been through worse,” she answered, taking the man’s hand.</p><p> “You sound a lot like someone I know.”</p><p> She laughed, finally blinking to adjust to her surroundings. But when she finally realized who had just helped her, she nearly blew a fuse. “Raihan?!”</p><p> “That’s me,” he replied, flashing a smile.</p><p> Eliana gave a breathless laugh. Arceus, he’d changed so much. What happened to the small, introverted kid she used to know. Hell, he was anything but small and introverted now.</p><p> “I can’t believe it’s you. You’ve grown,” Eliana continued, eyeing him up and down.</p><p> “Take a picture, it’ll last longer.” Raihan chuckled, waving away his Rotom at the word picture. “Not now, it was an expression,” he mumbled.</p><p> “I almost didn’t recognize you.”</p><p> “Ditto. Since when did you have a thing for black?”</p><p> “Since I grew up and learned that not everything in the world is sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows.” She frowned, remembering the events at Spear Pillar. “It might also have to do with my pokemon,” she added before it could be questioned.<br/>
 Raihan suddenly gasped. “Lee told me about Garchomp. I haven’t seen one of those in ages,” he said. “It’s too bad they’re not native here. Well, not completely. You know what I mean.”</p><p> The Drakloak that had run into Eliana gave a whimper, scratching at the door of the gym and basically dying to get inside. It was strange to see one without a Dreepy hanging around it. It kind of took away the whole parental aspect of the pokemon itself.</p><p> “Alright, alright, go on,” Raihan told it, opening the door just so it could rocket through inside. There were the sounds of crashing and some yelps of surprise from the people working there. “That’s dragon-types for you. Terrifying and evil one second, then soft and scared little puppies the next. Like bipolar hormonal women, lemme tell ya.”</p><p> “What’s that supposed to mean?” Eliana snapped.</p><p> “No offense,” the other said quickly, shutting the gym doors just as the sound of glass breaking was heard.</p><p> “Gon!”</p><p> “That goes for you too, you little shit,” Raihan shouted at something from over his shoulder. A Flygon lumbered over, tail lashing in a pissed off demeanor. “You’re even worse.”</p><p> “That can’t be the same Trapinch,” Eliana breathed.</p><p> “That’s her, alright. As cranky as ever, too.” Raihan sneered at his pokemon, who sneered just as heavily back. He laughed, stroking her horns afterwards. It was obvious that it was all in good fun, though Flygon still remained with her resting bitch face on. </p><p> “Have you seen Leon anywhere?” Eliana asked, giving Flygon a small pat on the neck.</p><p> Raihan sighed deeply, shrugging. “He’s probably wound up in Jhoto somewhere as far as I can tell. Even with Charizard and his Rotom to help him, he still gets hopelessly lost,” he explained.</p><p> “Lemme guess: you’re the one that has to find him in the end?”</p><p> “Never fails.”</p><p> “It’s great how you two have stayed best friends for so long, even after he’s kicked your ass so many times.”</p><p> Raihan faltered a bit at that, but regained himself before it was even noticeable. “Yeah, we’ve been through a lot together,” he replied, eyes flicking to the ground like they used to when they were younger. “I can’t tell you how many times it was me saving his life from either a stampede of wild pokemon he pissed off or some weird bite he got. Oh, Arceus, that Silicobra. I’ve never seen one so angry before.”</p><p> “I heard about that. Didn’t he step on it or something?” Eliana sat down on the pavement to give Flygon some more attention, who was slowly losing her moodiness and easing into a slight comfort. Raihan joined her, pulling out his phone.</p><p> “Yeah, it was horrible. Blood everywhere. I’ve never seen him like that before. Massive fear of heavy bleeding that’s for sure.” He showed her a picture of Leon, passed out on the ground as Sonia tried to tend to him. “I caught the thing, though. Taught it some manners. Leon’s still terrified to go near it.”</p><p> “I would be too.”</p><p> Flygon was drifting off as Eliana provided her the chin scratches of the century, actually purring as she sunk further into the touch. It reminded her of when she was still a Trapinch, who used to do the same damn thing no matter how pissed off she was.</p><p> “Should we call him, or just let him find his way here himself?”</p><p> Raihan laughed at that. “If we waited for him, it’d take us centuries to get to the point of what this was for in the first place. I got it, don’t worry.” He already had Rotom dail Leon’s number in, letting the pokemon drift off nearby as he tried to shift Flygon so that she wasn’t cutting off the circulation in his legs.</p><p> No answer. Raihan rolled his eyes. “Like always,” he muttered. “His Rotom’s probably losing its shit right now trying to get him back on track.”</p><p> “That poor-”</p><p> “I’m here!”</p><p> A Charizard suddenly came out of nowhere, landing on the ground nearby. Leon dismounted the pokemon, giving him a brisk stroke on the snout (in which Charizard actually sneezed in response). He was disheveled, looking like he had just been hit by a truck, as he joined them in pampering Flygon. “I’m here, nobody panic,” he wheezed, running a hand through his hair. “Sorry, I got caught up in some air traffic.”</p><p> “Is that even a thing?” Eliana asked, losing all excitement she had in seeing Leon again.</p><p> “No,” Raihan answered for her, “it’s not.”</p><p> Leon gave them a guilty grin. “Alright, I got lost. You happy now?”</p><p>“Immensely.”</p><p> Raihan was given a sharp elbow to the ribs. “Anyways, holy Mew, what happened to you?”</p><p> Eliana blinked. “What, me? You literally just saw me.”</p><p> “On the phone. It’s different than in person. You’ve gotten a weird taste in design, that's for sure.”</p><p> “Says you,” Raihan scoffed.</p><p> “Go suck on a Diglett.”</p><p> He almost made a reply back, but shut his mouth as if realizing that Eliana was still with them. Perverted comments aside, she shrugged and told them she didn’t mind. She could be just as bad.</p><p> “Pokemon. I’ve gotta see them,” Eliana demanded. “Especially you! The little baby lizard has grown!” She went to pet Charizard now, who whimpered happily and licked her hand in response.</p><p> “I assume yours has too. Inteleon, isn’t it?”</p><p> “Pfft, yeah. She’s never been more broody. I actually have a new main pokemon I use for battle, but I love them all equally.” She paused, hesitating before adding in a whisper, “Lucario’s the most well-behaved of them all. I’d say he’s my favorite, but he’s kind of tied with Inteleon.”</p><p> “A Lucario? Are you aiming for a duplicate of Cynthia’s team or what?” Raihan commented.<br/>
 Eliana flinched at the mention of the late Champion’s name. “No. I raised them both from stage one before I even got close to challenging Cynthia. Besides, Milotic and Gastrodon? Yeah, sorry, but that’s not exactly my style. I’m looking into the more intimidating partners, if that makes sense.”</p><p> If anyone could make a Milotic or Gastrodon seem absolutely satanic, it was Cynthia. Milotic the most, because of that stupid Aqua Ring. Spiritomb had caused the most issues, having no type weaknesses at all. Not even one. It had been a game of luck with that one, whereas Eliana had at least some idea of what she was going to use for the other pokemon. Though it didn’t really help against Cynthia’s own Garchomp. Almost everything in her team had a weakness to it. Inteleon was that exception, but the only move she had that was actually effective against it was Extreme Speed. That had been a slow, grueling process that she hoped to never go through again. Ever.</p><p> The three let out their pokemon, though they took turns seeing as they had a lot. Showing off her Garchomp was a little nice, since she had never felt so proud of herself for raising such a difficult pokemon. The only other one of real interest was Inteleon, since it had been her first and everyone was gushing over how big she had become from such a small, scared Sobble. Plus the fact that most Inteleon were male, so that was a small detail that Eliana had never noticed until then. She had always thought that Inteleon looked more feminine than male, just as it was the other way around with Cinderace, but of course nature played a wild card and went nuts.</p><p> The stories behind Leon’s team and how it was built were definitely worth the listen. His first captured pokemon was Rhyperior, who had been a simple Rhyhorn back then. It was apparently saved from being devoured by an Onix. Raihan butted in and said that Leon was the one that wanted to risk his life for it, in which Leon argued that every life was worth saving. His second capture was Dreepy, caught in a competition between him and Raihan (of course), which had turned into a race for their own lives as the mother Dragapult chased them halfway across the Wild Area before it finally gave up. The third addition to his team wasn’t a captured pokemon, but rather one sent as an egg from his cousin in Unova. Because it was raised from such a young age, Haxorus was a very well-behaved pokemon for her species. Aegislash wasn’t all that exciting of a story. He was just caught on a trip to the Wild Area, though that didn’t mean that he wasn’t all that powerful. There was a reason why Leon almost always led with Aegislash in tournaments. Leon also explained that he was keeping a Grookey at the time, but it wasn’t with him.</p><p> Almost all of Raihan’s pokemon, the exceptions being Gigalith and Flygon, were rescues. Well, Sandaconda was more of a catch out of revenge, but it still had its tail practically broken after how hard Leon had stepped on it back then. Duraludon was taken from an abusive Trainer, and still struggled with trauma to this day. Raihan said he had an entire sanctuary connected to the gym that was dedicated to caring for dragon-types that were abandoned, abused, and neglected. There were three other pokemon he usually battled with, but they were left at the sanctuary to look after the others while he was gone. Torkoal may not have been a dragon-type, but he was a great parental figure to the younger pokemon there. Turtonator had been abandoned by its mother when it was only a hatchling, turning him rude and grumpy, though he was still a formidable opponent. Goodra, as Raihan described her, was like a child to him. Raised from a Goomy, she was found nearly dead in the Dusty Bowl. Her Trainer had left her there, and she had dried out and baked there until she was discovered and brought to the sanctuary to be cared for. But then she took a liking to Raihan, following him home before she was discovered hiding in his hoodie. No matter how hard he tried, she always came scampering back to his doorstep, mewling like a lost Litten. So he eventually decided on keeping her as his own, which was the best decision he had made. Goodra was loyal, heartfelt, and the best mother to any of the new entries in the sanctuary.</p><p> “You are such a softie,” Eliana teased. “I never took you for someone who would make an entire shelter based on abandoned and abused pokemon.”</p><p> “I give them the love and care that I never had,” Raihan replied, acting like it was no big deal.</p><p> “Adorable,” Leon said, giving him a mischievous smirk. Raihan ignored him, recalling his pokemon except for Flygon and Gigalith. Eliana commented on how much Gigalith had changed, going from a “walking asshole with feet” to a living dinosaur boulder.</p><p> “Accurate.”</p><p> Gigalith growled lowly, though he wasn’t angry at all. Given the fact that he was Raihan’s pokemon, he was probably used to being picked on. Flygon snickered at him, burying her nose in her paws to cover it.</p><p> “Well, he and I go way back,” Raihan began, giving Gigalith a small pat on the head. “He was the first pokemon I ever had. I caught him on Route Four on accident, really. I threw the pokeball at a Sandile, but it hit him instead. Haven’t regretted it yet.”</p><p> “Yet.”</p><p> He gave Eliana a sharp glare. “Anyways, he was a great friend to have whenever Mom decided to shut down. A real good listener, just not much of a talker.”</p><p> Gigalith dipped his head bashfully, nuzzling Raihan’s cheek affectionately. It was obvious that the two had a connection that went further than just Trainer and pokemon. It kind of made Eliana jealous. Her and Inteleon were best friends, sure, but they weren’t that close. If Gigalith had a mega evolution, it would be a breeze for the two to handle.</p><p> That was the same for Leon and Charizard. You never saw the two separated. After all, what was the Unbeatable Champion of Galar without his Brilliant Charizard? The two were so famous, even more so after Leon had become the World Champion in the recent years.</p><p> “So how’s it feel being second best?” Eliana asked, trying to poke at how calm and collected Raihan could keep himself. Before, he was easy to anger, yet he had never spoke up about it. There was one time he finally boiled over, and boy oh boy, was that a wild ride. Leon didn’t talk to him for days after that. Even Eliana was a bit more cautious around him.</p><p> Raihan flinched. “I wouldn’t say second best. I’d call it being at least one step behind his charismatic ass all the time,” he answered, ignoring Leon’s angry frown again.</p><p> “Whatever it’s called, same difference,” Eliana said dismissively. “You’re avoiding my question.”</p><p> “I’m saying that I’m peeved at the most. Honestly, it isn’t that big of a deal.”</p><p> “That’s not what you told me,” Leon butted in. “Because I clearly remember you saying-”</p><p> “Why is your memory better than your sense of direction? By the way Hop’s turning out, it’s obvious that he stole the brains in the family.” Raihan poked Leon in the ribs now, getting his own sweet revenge.</p><p> “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”</p><p> “See what I mean?”</p><p>Eliana giggled. “I see that you two are just as bad as before. A bunch of kids is what you are.”</p><p> Raihan let that slide. “Watch this,” he said. He turned to Leon. “Stupid say what?”</p><p> “What?” Leon demanded.</p><p> “See?”</p><p> “I get it,” Eliana muttered.</p><p> Leon wasn’t having any of it. “Don’t forget who absolutely slaughtered your team with a single pokemon last year.”</p><p> “Really? Who had to stop you from going one-on-one with a Tyranitar? Without pokemon, may I remind you.”</p><p> “It tried to-”</p><p> “For the love of Arceus, stop.” Eliana got to her feet, crossing her arms. “Why don’t you guys just duke it out or something? I didn’t come here to listen to you argue the entire time. This is a vacation, not a living hell.”</p><p> “Don’t tempt me,” Raihan hissed. “Let’s get a move on. I’ve got a Dratini in the sanctuary that needs feeding in about an hour, and I can’t be late. It’ll never let me forget it.”</p><p> “What’s wrong with this one? Wasn’t there a Dratini that was brought in about a week ago with a fractured rib?” Leon questioned.</p><p> “It’s the same one. Turns out it had a lot more issues than that; It was taken out of the nest too young, so now I’m stuck with feeding it every few hours or else it uses my arm as a chew toy for the longest time.” Raihan sighed, recalling Gigalith. “I really need to hire someone to handle things while I’m gone.”</p><p> “Won’t anyone else feed it? Like another dragon-type?”</p><p> “It won’t let anyone else near it. Even the Dragonites that stay there are forbidden territory.”</p><p> “Screw the Wild Area, I want to see what this sanctuary looks like,” Eliana suggested.</p><p> Raihan stuttered. “I mean, sure, if you really wanted to. No one else really goes in there, so the residents might not like it.”</p><p> “I’ve fought the literal Satan of pokemon. Try me.”</p><p> He laughed. “I forgot about that. Lucky you,” he replied.</p><p> “Ha! You didn’t go into the actual Reverse World to fight it, either. Trust me, that place is messed up.” Eliana shivered just thinking about it.</p><p> “Stop trying to give me nightmares, will you?” Leon complained. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> Needless to say, the moment Eliana caught sight of how the sanctuary looked, she was absolutely blown away. I was like the outside had been condensed into this one, huge area that had several different places for the dragon-types to accustom to. Trees, flowers, berries, you name it - it was all there. From where she was standing, she could see at least fifteen different pokemon around. Though what really caught her eye was a Drampa nearby, who was surrounded by a bunch of baby pokemon, crying to it for attention.</p><p> “Dram,” it moaned, covering its face with its wings. The pokemon all scuttled closer, curious to find out what he was doing. Then, out of nowhere, it flung its arms open, bellowing so loud that the baby pokemon went rolling away. But they weren’t terrified. If anything, they wanted to do it again. They all ran to Drampa again, jumping and wriggling with excitement. Drampa smiled at them, continuing its weird game of peekaboo.</p><p> “That is the most adorable and wholesome thing I’ve ever seen,” Eliana gasped. “I haven’t seen a Drampa up close before.”</p><p> “Oh, him? He’s been here forever. He stays because it’s his favorite thing in the entire world to take care and play with baby pokemon. Not that I mind. It keeps them busy and away from me,” Raihan explained. “I’ll be back. Don’t fuck anything up.”</p><p> Just as he left, Charizard was already running over to join in with playing with the little dragonets. An Axew climbed on his nose, while a Noibat roosted on his back. Several Dreepies came to do the same, and soon Charizard was absolutely covered in pokemon. Leon laughed.</p><p> “We’re regulars here, so they know him well,” he said.</p><p> Eliana didn’t have time to reply before a Kommo-o approached her, a couple Jangmo-o trailing behind it. It glared at her, as if judging whether she was worthy to be here or not.</p><p> “Should I be worried about that?” she fretted, tempted to take a step back.</p><p> “Oh, don’t worry about him. He’ll warm up to you eventually,” Leon told her. “He did the same thing to me the first time we came here, so you’re nothing special.”<br/>
Eliana shot him a displeased look.</p><p> “N-not that you aren’t special. You know, just, not on his murder list for some odd reason. Hopefully.” Leon gave a nervous chuckle.</p><p> Raihan returned, a small Dratini in his arms. “Hold this,” he ordered, leaving again.<br/>
Eliana scoffed, staring down at the pokemon that was now in her arms instead. The Dratini took one look at her and decided that she was the most evil thing on the planet. It narrowed its brown little eyes, giving a tiny cry that it probably thought was fierce. It even tried to bare its teeth, given the fact that it only had a few.</p><p> “Oh, I’m quaking in my leather shoes.” Eliana went to stroke it, only to have it nip at her in anger. “Ow! What was that for?”</p><p> “He did say that it hated anyone else,” Leon tried, but was silenced under Eliana’s icy gaze.</p><p> “I am going to make this thing trust me, even if it agrees with me or not. Now,” she said sternly, looking the Dratini in the eyes, “is that any way to treat a guest?”</p><p> “Ni!”</p><p> “Don’t give me that mouth, missy.”</p><p> “Dra! Ti ti!”</p><p> “Oh, excuse me, but you’re the one that attacked me first.”</p><p> “Tini!” The pokemon turned away from her, holding its head high in a haughty demeanor.</p><p> “What did you just say to me?”</p><p> “Tini!”</p><p> “Are you okay?” Leon asked, giving them a worried look.</p><p> “Fine,” Eliana said between gritted teeth. Dratini huffed, turning away from her even more.</p><p> “If you say so.”</p><p> After a few more minutes of Eliana trying to reason with Dratini and Leon watching helplessly (plus the Kommo-o staring into their souls the entire time), Raihan finally came back again to take the Dratini back.</p><p> “Alright, you little shit, let’s get you some food,” he said to it, earning a pleased squeal from the otherwise cranky dragonet. “You should be old enough to do this yourself, you know.”</p><p> A Goodra, probably Raihan’s, walked up to them, presenting an array of berries.</p><p> “What’ll it be today? Lemme guess, the usual noon special?”</p><p> Dratini chirped, reaching out to snag a Persim berry from the bunch, nibbling on it happily. As she ate, Raihan turned to the others tiredly. “This is what I have to deal with every day,” he sighed. “She never wants just one thing. It’s always something different. Bitch and whine, then it’s back to eating again.”</p><p> Goodra didn’t even seem to mind standing there and holding the berries. She only smiled and presented them like it was what she was born for. For being a usually reclusive pokemon in the wild, this Goodra seemed to be a major sucker for being with others.</p><p> “Why don’t you train it to at least be okay with other people?” Eliana suggested, giving Dratini a curl of the lip as it turned to give her a sly grin.</p><p> “Tried that. Went absolutely horrible. Just ask Sebastian: he had a burn on his hand for three days after that. Turns out this thing can use Dragon Breath already.” Dratini squealed in agreement, beginning to munch on another berry.</p><p> “Reminds me of someone I know,” Leon said. “You were the same way when we were younger, admit it.”</p><p> “Was not. I was nowhere near as bad as this thing. I at least tried to communicate with people,” Raihan argued, not even looking at  him.</p><p> “No,” Eliana reminded him, “We tried to communicate with you. It took you a lot of convincing to actually talk back to us.”</p><p> “Probably because he-” he pointed at Leon “-wouldn’t shut up about me being from another region.”</p><p> “I was ten.”</p><p> “Nine.”</p><p> “Even better for my case.”<br/>
 Raihan rolled his eyes. “Anyways, don’t let me stop you from taking a look around. I’m sure there’ll be something here you’ll enjoy.” He thought for a moment before adding, “You should check out the desert habitat over there. You might get a kick out of that.”</p><p> “Probably a couple dozen Trapinch,” Eliana teased, but went on to find it anyway. Leon followed her, along with the Kommo-o from before. He seemed like he wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon, either. The Jangmo-o were more friendly, running beside them and playing around their ankles. Eliana almost broke her neck tripping over one.</p><p> She could tell they were getting close when she saw an orange rock buried in the dirt. Only it wasn’t a rock, if it wasn’t obvious. Even the Jangmo-o were cautious, creating a wide circle around the Trapinch to avoid being bitten. They were classified as the Ant Pit pokemon for a reason. They would burrow themselves into little holes, then sit there and wait for hours on end, waiting for something to come along. No matter what it was, Trapinch would bite it and not let go. If it was lucky, it’d be something it could eat.</p><p> “First time I was over here I almost had my foot bit off,” Leon said. He glared at the Trapinch, which only blinked slowly at him in response.</p><p> “You have the worst luck with pokemon, I swear,” Eliana replied.</p><p> “Ah, I’m practically invincible by now.”</p><p> She took one look at the number of fading scars plastered on his arms and raised a brow. “Right.”</p><p> “Those are all from training, I swear.”</p><p> “Leon.”</p><p> “It’s not my fault that some moves miss and hit me instead!”</p><p> “<em>Leon</em>.”</p><p> “What?”</p><p> Eliana put a finger to her mouth, gesturing to something in the dirt that wasn’t a Trapinch. Instead of orange, something with greyish-blue scales was squeezed down into a mudhole, eyes closed in bliss.</p><p> “Is that what I think it is?”</p><p> “Depends on what you think it is,” Leon mumbled.</p><p> Almost as if on cue, the pokemon wriggled itself out of the mud and shook itself, splattering the stuff all over the place to reveal its other colors. Small, almost spherical in shape, the back fin-</p><p> “That’s a fucking Gible,” Eliana observed.</p><p> “Indeed.”</p><p> “I haven’t seen one of those since Gary was that young.”</p><p> Leon blinked at her. “Who?”</p><p> “Forget it. Hang on.” Eliana slowly approached the Gible, now burrowing itself into the mud again. “Hey little guy. You mind if I sit here?”</p><p> It looked at her through the corner of its eye, then closed it again as it went deeper in the mudhole. Eliana took that as a no, so she situated herself on her knees just outside the reaches of the mud. That still didn’t let her avoid all the sand, though. The Gible growled, but hardly paid any attention.</p><p> “Also, I was twelve and he looked like a Gary,” Eliana explained to Leon. “Now he seems more like a Mr Bite Your Face Off, but who cares?”</p><p> Leon still looked at her funny.</p><p> “What, you don’t name your pokemon?”</p><p> He flushed in embarrassment. “I mean, yeah, some of them,” he admitted. “I only use them when we’re not out in public, though.”</p><p> “What’s Charizard’s?”</p><p> “Why do you assume he has one?”</p><p> Eliana only stared at him, waiting for him to crack.</p><p> “Fine! His name’s Stoker. Not that impressive, really.” He looked like he could die on the spot, uncomfortable with exposing his pokemon’s nicknames. But this was Eliana, so he could trust her.</p><p> Right?</p><p> “Stoker’s probably the best name I’ve heard for a Charizard. Does Raihan give his pokemon nicknames, too, or is he too full of himself?”</p><p> “He named Flygon Squeaker because she’d never stop making noise as a Vibrava. It’s in their nature, though, so I guess it makes sense.”</p><p> “That sounds so like him. Not that creative, is he?”</p><p> “Oh, he tried brainstorming other names for her later on but it kind of stuck.”</p><p> “Well, it’s cute anyways,” Eliana reassured him. She reached out to the Gible, who tentatively let her pet it. In no time, it was rolling over for more belly rubs.</p><p> “How do you do that?” Leon asked in awe. “That one’s been territorial for as long as I can remember.”</p><p> “I raised one, remember? Speaking of Gary, what do you say we let him out to introduce himself?”</p><p> The Gible growled in curiosity when she pulled out Garchomp’s pokeball. In a blue flash, the dragon was out, yawning and shaking himself out. He took one look at the Gible and turned to Eliana with an excuse me what the fuck expression. The Gible gave a little roar, running up to Garchomp and clawing at his leg. The other was not impressed, to say the least.</p><p> “Gar,” he protested, trying to shake the Gible off. And yet the pokemon hung on with all its might despite being shaken around wildly.</p><p> “Thing’s got some spirit, I’ll tell ya that,” Eliana laughed.</p><p> “I thought you’d like it.”</p><p> “Well, look who decided to show up.”</p><p> Thankfully, the Dratini was nowhere to be seen. Raihan had only come by himself, plus a few overly attached dragonets begging for his attention.</p><p> “The only thing about being the sole caretaker of these things is the fact that they won’t get off my ass,” he hissed. “Go bother Drampa or something.” The pokemon still stayed at his feet. Flygon snarled at them, trying to look intimidating enough to shoo them all away. They only wanted to play with her more instead. She looked at Raihan, a distressed expression on her face as she yowled for help. “Knock it off, Squeakers,” was his only reply as he took the opportunity to get away from the little troublemakers. Flygon was not happy about that.</p><p> “What did I tell you?” Leon pointed out. “Makes her all the less terrifying when it’s used.”</p><p> Raihan patted him on the shoulder. “Shut up, Squeakers,” he teased, pulling Leon’s hat down in front of his face.</p><p> “Hey!” he growled, taking it off only to whack Raihan on the back of the head with it before repositioning it.</p><p> Eliana stood in between them before it went further than it needed to. “Alright, cut it out. Are we going to catch up with each other or am I seriously going to have to put up with you two?”</p><p> “He-” Leon began, but, like she always did before when he got mouthy, Eliana put a hand over his mouth.</p><p> “Don’t you dare say ‘he started it’, because I don’t care who started it, because I will finish it.”</p><p> Leon fell silent, looking away angrily.</p><p> “Haha, you’re scared of a girl,” Raihan teased.</p><p> “You would be too after what she’s gone through!” Leon shot back.</p><p> “Jeez, what exactly did you go through that was so bad?”</p><p> Eliana gave an exasperated sigh. “It’s a long story.”</p><p> They blinked at her, and she grew more impatient.</p><p> “Well, don’t just stand there! Are you gonna sit down and listen or do I have to keep this to myself?”</p><p> They both obediently sat down on the ground, Eliana joining them after a few seconds of her debating on where to start. “Alright, do you want to start from the beginning?”</p><p> “How about when everything went to hell? I don’t need to hear it - I’ve already heard it a thousand times. You know, for Raihan’s sake,” Leon asked, already growing bored.</p><p> “Shit, where do I begin on that?”</p><p> “Wasn’t it something to do with the Valley Windworks?”</p><p> Eliana snapped her fingers. “Right. But that wasn’t my first run-in with Galactic. I think it was in Eterna, if I’m not mistaken.”</p><p> “Weren’t Galactic the ones that tried to destroy the world?” Raihan tried remembering, but there were too many evil organizations out there to keep track of.</p><p> “Didn’t all of them?” Leon commented.</p><p> “Well, to be clear, the only ones set on actually destroying the world were Galactic and Flare. Rocket’s more of a mafia, even if they are, quote unquote, ‘disbanded’. Magma and Aqua just wanted more land and water, but that went to shit in the end,” Eliana clarified. “Anyways, yes, Galactic’s plan was to destroy the world and create a new one without emotion or any practical use. Weird, if you ask me.”</p><p> “I wasn’t suggesting you get all technical with it,” Raihan said, growing bored as well.</p><p> “You asked. So anyways, again, I was only around twelve when this happened. So I was just minding my own business and going on my way to see the gym when I ran into some guys looking like they were wearing spacesuits. I think the most memorable part about them was the outfit and the bowl cuts. Can’t miss em in a crowd, that’s for sure. Apparently these guys have kidnapped the man that runs the local bike shop. I wouldn’t have gotten myself involved if it weren’t for the need of a bike to get to my next destination. So I walk into this place that they built for themselves, battle a few of them, make them run home crying, when I run into one of their commanders. And boy, was she nasty. But I beat her, and she made a deal to let the poor guy go. Got a free bike, so there was that.”</p><p> “Lucky you?”</p><p> "Have you seen how expensive those things are these days?" Eliana shot right back at Raihan, who shrugged and couldn't care less about how much bikes cost, past or present.</p><p> "What about Satan?" he interjected. "Did you really fight Giratina on his home turf or are you just saying that to impress us?"</p><p> Eliana cocked a brow. "Do I look like the kind of person to lie about that kind of thing?" she hissed.</p><p> "Gotta have proof."</p><p> She sighed eeply, debating on actually giving in and showing them, or keeping it a secret from the entirety of the world. Her hand instantly went to open her bag's pokeball pocket, fishing out the one that stood out from the rest. "Oh, I'll give you proof. There's only one thing that kept me from being eaten by Giratina, and I'm still not exactly positive you guys won't go off and blab about it the second I show you."</p><p> Leon and Raihan exchanged curious glances.</p><p> "I'd never do that to you," Leon argued.</p><p> "I was talking about Weather Boy over here," Eliana corrected, jabbing a thumb in Raihan's direction. He put a hand over his heart in mock offense.</p><p> "How dare you. I can keep a secret just fine," he protested.</p><p> "Even if it's an all-poweful dragon-type god?"</p><p> Both of them blinked at her in astonishment.</p><p> "You're kidding. Tell me you're joking," Raihan breathed. "There's no way in hell."</p><p> "I actually caught him in hell, mind you." Eliana didn't even wait for Leon to speak his mind before tossing the pokeball in her hand, standing up to give it a good throw. In a flash of blue light, a gargantuan beast appeared, causing Leon to pale and Raihan to nearly faint in amazement.</p><p> It was huge. White, with pinkish-purple accents. Large pearls were mounted on its shoulders, power eminating from the gemstones so harshly that they could feel it from where they stood. Its huge tail swayed calmly, ruby eyes fixed on the humans with an unreadable expression.</p><p> "You did not."</p><p> "I did."</p><p> Palkia gave a large yawn, shaking himself out. <em><strong>It's much smaller in there than I would have expected</strong></em>, he said with a low growl.<br/>
 </p><p>Wait a damn minute.</p><p> "He talks?" Raihan gaped, still trying to get over the fact that Eliana of all people had Palkia in her back pocket.</p><p> Leon still barely comprehended what was going on. "Is that Palkia? You have Palkia? It's real?"</p><p> "Of course it's real, dumbass. How else would spatial dimensions be kept in check?"<br/>
 </p><p>"Well, excuse me, but I have a right to not believe it was real, don't I?"</p><p> "Guys, for the love of Arceus, could you choose a worse time to argue?" Eliana admonished.</p><p> They both shut up immediately, going back to staring at Palkia like he was a god. Oh, wait.</p><p> "Now will you shut up and listen to how Giratina had his ass kicked?" With no further protests, though their attention had been sapped completely by Palkia's presence, Eliana decided to continue. "So it's basically the end of the world, right? Cynthia and I are at Spear Pillar, thinking it's too late when this weird giant shadowy thing comes out of the ground and eats Cyrus. I go through-"</p><p> "Wait, what? Cyrus was eaten? Why were you at Spear Pillar? Why was the world ending? We're missing a whole lot of steps here, people," Leon interjected.</p><p> Eliana shot him a glare. "Shut. I'm getting there. We were there because Cyrus planned to do a fucking soft reset on the world with Palkia and Dialga. Happy now?"</p><p> Palkia churred at her words, which was either an <em>I'll kill you</em> or an <em>oh my gosh that was hilarious</em> one. <br/>
 </p><p>"Anyways, for the fifth time, Cynthia and I go through the thing's shadowy portal mess in the ground and wind up in the Reverse World because that's apparently how physics work in situations like that. Turns out Cyrus wasn't eaten but he was kidnapped by the huge shadowy monster and taken to literal hell. So I fight him, give his pokemon a beating, but then the monster shadow dragon takes me away and tries to fight me. Most of my pokemon are practically clinging on to their last breath by the time I was one with Cyrus, so it was pointless. Just as I was about to die, that one swooped in and saved the day." Eliana nodded at Palkia, who was currently busy with trying to avoid the dragonets that weren't terrified enough to avoid him. This almost resulted in Flygon being stepped on. "And then we kick Giratina's ass, go back home, and we saved the world. Yay, happy endings, flowers everywhere, I get a gold medal. Yeah, no. That didn't happen. You wanna know the most traumatizing bit of my Sinnoh adventures?" They leaned in with curiosity. Eliana gestured for them to come closer, lowering her voice. "One word. Cynthia."</p><p> Raihan burst out laughing, which Leon tried to silence with a thwack to the backside of his head. "You're serious? After all that shit with Giratina, the most horrifying thing of all time was Cynthia?" he chuckled.</p><p> After a few moments of Eliana giving him a stare that, if looks could kill, the entirety of Galar would be dead, Raihan finally backed down.</p><p> "You'll never look at a Garchomp the same way ever again," Eliana muttered forebodingly. "Horrible. Absolutely horrendous. Never doing it again, no thank you. Not if my life depended on it."</p><p> "Well, yeah, not everyone can beat her. I fought her once and that was only with one pokemon," Leon mumbled. </p><p> </p><p> "Since when?" Raihan argued.</p><p> "We don't just sit around and talk at those annual meetings in Kanto, you know. It's too bad I couldn't make the last few."</p><p> "Yeah, I missed you. First thing I did when I got there was snag an autograph from Lance and Red," Eliana stated.</p><p> "Lance?" Raihan gaped.</p><p> "Yes. Lance. But that's not the point. I'm trying to say that I had a reason why it took me so long to become Sinnoh's Champion. Of course you were lucky and won first try. And haven't lost since, I've heard." Eliana shot an accusing glare at Leon.</p><p> "She's got you there."</p><p> Leon rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I haven't lost a battle once in my life," he admitted.</p><p> Eliana shot to her feet again. "Gary! Get your scaly ass over here!"</p><p> Her Garchomp popped his head out from the hole of sand he'd created with the Gible, not budging. He merely snorted and burrowed under again, his shark-like fin the only thing visible.</p><p> Eliana scoffed. "Fine then." She instead tossed Inteleon's ball into the air. The lizard appeared and was immediately battle-ready, but that was how she always was. When she saw Leon, she began speculating on whether she should be angry or not. "Just like old times. This time I'll win and take your winning streak."</p><p> "You sound so confident," Leon teased. "How do you know I'm not gonna cream you like the first time?"</p><p> "I've learned a lot more since then. I have actual strategies now, thank you."<br/>
 He shrugged. "Why not?" He called for Charizard, who sauntered over to his side. The dragon had been attempting in helping Flygon pry off the dragonets, only to have twice as many come back in hopes that it was all a game. Flygon herself finally let out a horrible screech, sending the dragonets squealing and running for the hills with their tails tucked between their legs. The dragonfly huffed, buzzing her wings in annoyance as she tried to find somewhere else to sleep.</p><p> "I'm just gonna..." Raihan backed off, avoiding the risk of being struck by an oncomming Snipe Shot or Wild Charge by accident.</p><p> "Stoker, you know what to do."</p><p> Charizard growled in agreement, taking a battle stance, wings flared and raring to go. His opponent did the same, though she hardly seemed as intimidated as he wanted her to be. That would be one of many good outcomes from fighting they things they had. Nothing scared Inteleon anymore, especially after facing Giratina.</p><p> "Whenever you're ready," Eliana dared.</p><p> "Dragon Claw!"</p><p> Charizard shot forwards instantly, causing a plume of dust and dirt to flare up behind him in the process. Inteleon didn't budge. "Wait for it." Seconds away from the impact, Eliana finally made a move. "Now!"</p><p> Inteleon landed a Sucker Punch square into Charizard's jaw, the force of it sending the dragon tumbling backwards. He snarled, sneezing as he tried to get feeling back in his snout. He hadn't even been able to touch Inteleon.</p><p> "Now use Snipe Shot, and don't let him out of your reach!"</p><p> "Dragon Claw, again!"<br/>
 </p><p>Inteleon forced a bullet of water at Charizard, strong enough to send a normal human being flying. The dragon took in the attack, shaking it off as he still continued on to land an attack on his opponent. Inteleon dug her feet into the ground, keeping herself from toppling over with the impact.</p><p> Eliana smirked. "Use the water to your advantage," she suggested, urging Inteleon to coat herself in a thin layer of water in order to cast herself invisible to the naked eye. Charizard, bewildered, swing his head to and fro to try and see where she went. Leon panicked, not sure what to do, letting Inteleon stirke Charizard with a harsh Water Pulse to the back. The fire-type howled, whipping around to snap at her, but she was gone again.</p><p> "Fine. If you want to be that way," Leon muttered. "Use the sand to reveal it!"</p><p> Charizard seemingly lit up at the very mention of the idea, instantly going to flap his wings to stir up the snad and dust. Inteleon was covered, ruining her disguise and allowing Charizard to unleash a Wild Charge upon her.</p><p> "Flamethrower!"</p><p> "You've gotta be kidding me. Inteleon, use the water to deflect it," Eliana commanded.</p><p> Inteleon coated herself in water again, this time to block the hot stream of fire coming her way. It desintegrated with a satisfying sizzle, Inteleon putting a triumphant grin on her face.</p><p> Leon didn't seem upset. Instead, he looked too exstatic for Eliana to take as normal. He had a plan, didn't he?</p><p> "Whatever, Snipe Shot!"</p><p> Inteleon went to use the move, but couldn't. Shocked, she shook her hand a little as if that would force the water to form, but alas it didn't. In this time of confusion, Charizard was able to land another Wild Charge, this time sending Inteleon flying backwards. She didn't get back up.</p><p> "Specere!" Eliana called out. She looked back at Leon, trying to read what his expression was. It was completely full of himself, proud and satisfied that he won. Again.</p><p> "How about it, then? Does that make me Champion of Sinnoh, too?"</p><p> "Like hell. It wasn't even an official battle. Besides, if it were, I'd have brought out Lightning to electrify that thing to a crisp by now," Eliana shot back.</p><p> Charizard gave her a wounded frown, then wagged his tail a little as Leon praised him for his win. Flygon came forwards to congratulate him, too.</p><p> "Looks like someone's gonna have to redo their win streak," Raihan sang.</p><p> Eliana glowered. "Try me."</p><p> The other spluttered. "I didn't- I wasn't challenging you or anything!"</p><p> "I thought you never backed down from a challenge. The great Dragon Tamer Raihan, second best in Galar and Leon's trusted rival, scared of losing to a girl."</p><p> "Am not!" Raihan spat. "Flygon, teach her a lesson."</p><p> Flygon looked at him, her expression reading a perfect<em> bitch what</em> face.</p><p> "Hey Rai, do you ever wonder what made Cynthia as great a Trainer as she is?"<br/>
 He blinked. "Her strategy and personality," he answered plainly.<br/>
 </p><p>"Well yes, but actually no. Who was most renowned for sending challengers running for the hills?"</p><p> "Garchomp." He was growing more concerned by the second.</p><p> "Well, a fellow Garchomp Trainer picks up a thing or two. Gary! Get over here before I hand over your food to Lightning!"</p><p> Garchomp popped up from the sand, growling in annoyance as he stepped out of it to meet Raihan and Flygon across their makeshift battlefield. The Gible he was playing with earlier followed, staying back a little to wath what its idol would do. Eliana and Garchomp exchanged glances, nodding at each other before standing battle-ready.</p><p> "You can make the first move," Eliana invited.</p><p> Raihan gave her a confused and concerned glare. "Dragun Rush!"</p><p> Flygon shot forwards with blinding speed, but not quick enough to dodge her opponent's keen eye.</p><p> "You do the same, Gary!"</p><p> Garchomp followed his directions, meeting Flygon halfway, the collision sending a shockwave throughout the sanctuary. They struggled to overpower the other, or at least Flygon was. Garchomp merely smiled as he easily pushed forwards and sent her tumbling backwards.</p><p> "If this is a show of strength, I think you've got the wrong person," Raihan said. "Squeakers, you know what to do."</p><p> Flygon gave a shrill cry, going up into the air before diving down to strike Garchomp.</p><p> "Dodge it!"</p><p> Flygon instead crashed straight into the ground, sending grit everywhere. Stunned, she pulled her head out from the ground and tried to get her bearings.</p><p> "Alright, Gary, Dragon Claw!"</p><p> Garchomp smashed Flygon further into the ground with that, making her cry out in pain. She may be a ground-type, but everything had its limit of how much sand one could inhale before ultimately either passing out or dying.<br/>
 </p><p>"C'mon, you little shit, fly!"</p><p> Flygon snarled, taking to the air again. Garchomp didn't move. With that, Flygon looked back to her Trainer, waiting for a command. Raihan was too scared of what would happen if he did make a move, though, to even think about it.</p><p> He was right. Eliana called to Garchomp, making him come back to her side.</p><p> "What are you doing, giving up?" Raihan chuckled.</p><p> "No, we're just getting started."</p><p> Suddenly a blinding light emerged from the gemstone embedded on Garchomp's collar, enveloping him in it as his form changed right before their eyes. Larger blades, more spikes, just more angry and menacing than before, really. Garchomp burst through the light, showing off his new self with a loud roar.</p><p> "Mega evolution!" Leon shouted, impressed.</p><p> Raihan turned to him, nearly hyperventilating with terror that he might lose. "Mega <em>what</em> now?!"<br/>
 </p><p>"Dual Chop, and make it fast!"</p><p> If it were possible, Garchomp ran forwards triple the speed he usually did, scythes gleaming a bright blood red. Raihan, startled, ordered Flygon to dodge it. She did for the first strike, but the second clipped her wing just right, sending her falling to the ground again.</p><p> "Sand Tomb!" Eliana shouted, having fun for once while absolutely pummeling Raihan's partner without even trying.</p><p> Garchomp snarled, using his tail to stir up a swath of sand that enveloped Flygon, causing her to simply vanish inside the dust.</p><p> "Use your wings to blow it away!" Raihan ordered. He was actually quite scared, not expecting things to take such a horrible turn for him.</p><p> Flygon succeeded in blowing away the Sand Tomb, but that was what Eliana had hoped for. She turned to Garchomp. "Grab her." The dragon growled contently, stomping forwards and looming over Flygon, making the other shrivel back in fear. Garchomp simply leaned down, applying a hard Crunch to her tail, then picked her right off the ground. The dragonfly protested, writhing to break free, but to no avail.</p><p> "What the hell are you doing?" Raihan demanded.</p><p> "Alright, spin her around a bit."</p><p> Her partner swung around with such speed that the otion was all just a blur of midnight blue, red, and green. Raihan cried out in concern for his pokemon. "Drop her!" he pleaded.</p><p> "You heard the man, Gary."</p><p> Garchomp stopped and released Flygon in a way that sent her absolutely flying across the sanctuary. She smacked right into a large boulder, alerting a group of Bagon that were practicing for flight on it. She tried getting to her feet, but was still too stunned to do anything else. It was hopeless anyways.</p><p> "Shel!"</p><p> Her eyes snapped wide open, whipping around to look up at a Shelgon that was standing at the edge of the large stone. She barely had any time to react before it jumped off, landing right on top of her. She squealed, winded, as the Shelgon happily stayed on top of her, crushing her with its weight. A couple Bagon leaped off after it, landing on Flygon as well.</p><p> Raihan looked at Eliana and Garchomp, face pale and eyes wide. "What the fresh hell was all that?" he breathed.</p><p> "Mega evolution," Eliana answered just as Garchomp returned to his original form. "I took a trip to Kalos a while ago to meet up with Diantha for Champion stuff. She took one look at Gary and Briza and handed me a key stone and their mega stones."</p><p> "Yeah, but what does it do?"</p><p> "It helps the pokemon acheive a higher form. They get stronger, faster, a lot more powerful... It requires a very strong bond between Trainer and pokemon, but even then it's hard to maintain a perfect link with them because it drains so much of your own energy. They go back to normal after a while, so people only use it for battling."</p><p> "You seem fine to me," Leon observed.</p><p> "That's because I've trained myself to withstand it. Honestly? I fainted the first time I used it." She stroked Garchomp's snout, eyees filled with thoughtfulness. "It's really difficult to master."</p><p> "I'm definitely looking into that."</p><p> "Can all pokemon do this?" Raihan wondered, looking back at Flygon, who was struggling to wriggle out from inder the Shelgon and a horde of Bagon.</p><p> "Sadly, no. Only certain pokemon can. But they still need their special stones, and the Trainer needs a keystone." Eliana gestured to the rainbow gemstone that made up the charm on her chain necklace. It had hardly been noticable because it was so small. "Gary here has his Garchompite in his little collar. It's a bit bigger than most mega stones, but that's because he's a lot bigger than something like Mawile or Banette."</p><p> "Charizard has two mega evolutions," Leon chimed in. "X and Y. I like X better. It looks cooler."</p><p> Raihan blinked, obviously wondering about why Charizard had two megas.</p><p> "There's some rare pokemon that have two megas. Charizard's the only one that's been discovered to have it, but there's been rumors about Mewtwo having it, too," Eliana explained.</p><p> "The weird science experiment one?"</p><p> "Yeah. That. But it's so hard to catch even a glimpse of that thing, so I don't know if the whole mega evolution thing is real.</p><p> Garchomp growled, turning to walk away to the sand pit again, only to run into something large and red. He snarled now, trying to move around it. Raihan became very concerned.</p><p>"Don't touch-"</p><p> Garchomp, angry, bit down on the thing's spikes, only for them to light up. Without a second longer of reaction time, the thing's spikes exploded, making Garchomp stumble back, tail slightly tucked between his legs. The thing looked back at him, giving an apologetic smile.</p><p> "I was gonna say the spikes," Raihan sighed. "Sorry about that, Bomb."</p><p> Turtonator only churred a happy growl, going to walk away from the detonation he'd caused. Garchomp was left in bewilderment, ash spread across his face like a facemask. Eliana laughed.</p><p> "What'd he tell ya?"</p><p> "What else can you do?" Leon asked, shrugging.</p><p><strong><em> It is indeed amusing</em></strong>.</p><p> They turned to Palkia, having forgotten he was even there. The pokemon smiled, tilting his head sweetly.</p><p> "Damn, I forgot you had a fucking legendary," Raihan muttered, shooting a jealous glare at Eliana.</p><p> "It's called saving the world and other extreme sports, honey."</p><p> Raihan looked at Leon strangely at the word honey, but he soon glanced away quickly, trying to look at something else to entertain him. Eliana shrugged it off.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Wind Raging</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It’s hard being left out. It’s hard to be the one who stays.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>WOAH HI IT'S FINISHED HOLY SHIT<br/>Yeah, this one took a while. tbfh I just had no inspiration and decided to waste my time on Discord and watching RLCraft videos (how bad can the game be? It's Minecraft! It's hell. Pain. Suffering. Death.)<br/>But finally, I decided to sit down and force myself to write. In no time, I came up with this. Enjoy, I guess</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> "Hey, thanks for the battle, kid. It'll help out in the long run."</p><p><br/> "I'm just happy I got to fight the Champion's brother!"</p><p><br/> Hop faltered. "I'm not just-"</p><p><br/> "What's he like? Is he nice?" the little girl insisted, her Skwovet perched on her shoulder and just as intent as she was.</p><p><br/> "Look, I don't have the right to say stuff like that," Hop tried. Uncomfortable as he was, he suppressed the feeling of jealousy and rage that he was still being identified as no one but Leon's baby brother. It set him off sometimes. Just because they were related didn't mean that he should be ignored and bombarded by questions like this. He hoped this kid would understand and not turn out upset. That was the last thing he needed.</p><p><br/> "Aw, come on. There's gotta be something you can tell me!" she insisted still.</p><p><br/> Hop tried to keep his smile. "Sorry."</p><p><br/> Before the girl could ask any more stupid questions, he turned around and left, Scorbunny and Wooloo following him at his heels. He took a deep breath, trying not to let that incident get to him so easily. It's been harder to do that ever since he signed up for the Gym Challenge, since everyone immediately recognized him, but only as what he's always been known as. They don't bother to get to know him; they only want insider information on the Champion's private, supposedly luxurious life. It was probably why he had no friends besides his pokemon, maybe even Sonia, if she even counted as one. His mother would act like she loved him and turn right back around when Leon would come along and pamper him in affection. Leon even seemed to ignore he existed.</p><p><br/> "Scor!"</p><p><br/> "Yeah, yeah, I know."</p><p><br/> Scorbunny picked up on his Trainer's emotions quite quickly. It as part of the reason Hop chose him as his first true partner pokemon. That, and a monkey didn't seem to appeal to him at all. Scorbunny was like his therapist at some points, reminding him to chin up once in a while if needed. He was very handy to keep around, plus he was a very strong pokemon in battle already.</p><p><br/> Hop still couldn't depend just on two pokemon, though. He'd been searching for the perfect addition to the team and so far had found absolutely nothing worth checking out. Sure, a Nickit would be cute and fast and all, but keeping an eye on it was a different story. Skwovet just wasn't a good pokemon at all, maybe only good for tanking hits, but that was it. They were also really demanding when it came to food. Blipbug are so weak at the start it hurts to even think about. An Orbeetle would be amazing to have, but it'd be too much work to put into something that broke like glass in battle. Chewtle, though powerful, teethed a lot. Caterpie was the same as Blipbug, but it was even weaker in its final evolution. Butterfree was not an option whatsoever.</p><p><br/> He'd really been keeping an eye out for a Rookidee, but each one he'd encounter would fly off before he could even try catching it. He didn't want to try fishing for anything, because the most he'd find are Magikarp, and no one wants to deal with that, no matter how powerful Gyarados can be. Barboach and Whiscash weren't appealing. Arrowkuda seemed like the most viable option, but they were so are that it would take hours just to fish one up alone.</p><p><br/> You'd hear the Rookidee, but you couldn't see them. It was annoying, really. It lowered Hop's confidence even more knowing that he couldn't get his hands on a stupid bird.<br/> At least, until he nearly stepped on one.</p><p><br/> The poor pokemon had been minding its own business, picking at the seeds and tiny grubs in the ground before Hop tripped over it, making it screech and tumble over in surprise. Hop, acting out on a whim, told Scorbunny to attack it with a quick Ember as he fumbled around for an empty pokeball. By the time he grabbed one, he hadn't even noticed that the Rookidee had countered with Peck and a Wing Attack right after. Rookidee were smart like that, the absolute nerve of it.</p><p><br/> "Flash, Quick Attack!"</p><p><br/> Scorbunny landed a swift kick on the Rookidee, making it become stunned momentarily. Hop took the advantage to throw a ball, hoping to Arceus that his aim wouldn't be off. It went inside, but that didn't mean it was going to stay there.</p><p><br/> It shook once, twice, slower on the third time, and took a painfully long time to finally give that satisfying click to show that it was successfully captured. Hop quickly scrambled over to the pokeball, slightly startled that he had actually succeeded. This was technically his first catch; Wooloo and Scorbunny were gifts, Wooloo captured and given to him by Leon for company when he wasn't home, and Scorbunny was from Leon as well to help Hop get started on his journey as a pokemon Trainer. This wild Rookidee, well not wild anymore, was his first actual captured pokemon, a sign that he really was starting to get the hang of being a real Trainer.</p><p><br/> "Come on out, little guy," he coaxed, opening the ball to allow the small bird to be released. It chirped, shaking itself out a bit before settling its eyes on its captor. Scorbunny rushed to it, giving a happy squeal as a greeting. Though the Rookidee turned away, putting on a high and mighty expression. Hop frowned. "I gotta give you a name. How's that sound?"</p><p><br/> It side-glanced at him, though remained silent as it began to preen itself instead.</p><p><br/> "You're gonna evolve into a Corviknight. I think Quicksilver would be a cool name, wouldn't it?"</p><p><br/> This time the Rookidee perked up slightly. It seemed to debate on it for a second, then nodded solemnly in approval. Hop let out a sigh of relief, happy to know he was at least getting somewhere.</p><p><br/> "Cor!"</p><p><br/> That didn't sound good. Not good at all.</p><p><br/> Quicksilver instantly began chirping and squealing at the sky, almost like a cry for help. But Hop wasn't going to hurt it, the blasted thing. Unless...</p><p><br/> Hop almost shouted in realization. "Quit it! Shut up," he hissed, putting a hand over Quicksilver's beak to muffle the sounds, only for his finger to be sharply pecked at. He yelped, drawing his hand back, but it was already too late to try anything else. "Flash, get ready!"</p><p><br/> He returned Quicksilver to its ball, frantically looking around for the source of the sound of huge wingstrokes. If it were that big, it would have nowhere to hide in all this open land and meadows. Would it?</p><p><br/> Scorbunny readied himself, looking for his opponent as well. He looked back to Hop, confused and afraid.</p><p><br/> "Of course there had to be a mum around," Hop muttered, eyes locking on a black speck in the horizon, which was growing bigger and bigger by the second. Yeah, Mum was <em>not</em> happy. It wasn't even a Corvisquire, either. It just had to be a Corviknight, didn't it?</p><p><br/> The Corviknight let out a piercing shree, metal feathers clinking together and reflecting the sun in an almost blinding way. Flash made a sound of terror, tripping before running back to Hop as fast as he could. Hop cursed, already making a break for it so he wouldn't get attacked himself.</p><p><br/> Corviknight gained on them easily, the sound of its wingstrokes and angered breathing growing closer. It reached out with its talons, inches from picking off one of them, before a massive blast of fire struck it and sent it spinning away from its target.</p><p><br/> Hop faltered in his movement, looking to see what had just saved them. He couldn't have been happier to see his own brother at any other given time. There was Leon, Charizard swooping in to tackle the Corviknight to the ground.</p><p><br/> "Hop, get behind me!" Leon shouted. "Fire Blast, Stoker, and give it everything you've got!"</p><p><br/> Charizard snarled in reply, sending the attack at Corviknight. It was so hot that even Hop could feel it from so far away. Corviknight squawked in pain, lashing out with its talons to try and leave a mark. Charizard payed it back by issuing a Dragon Claw, but it hardly left a mark. Corviknight stared at where it was struck, then at Charizard with an even more infuriated blood-red gaze. It howled, barrelling into Charizard so fast and so hard that even Leon acted like he felt it. The Champion paused for a moment, then snapped back into his senses.</p><p><br/> "Aerial Ace! We just need to scare it off!"</p><p><br/> But Corviknight avoided it with ease, leaving Charizard and sending a piercing glare at Leon instead.</p><p><br/> "Why do they have to be so smart?" was the last thing Leon said before he made a break for it, Corviknight catching on quickly and flying after him in hot pursuit. Charizard cried in concern, flapping after them with all he had in attempt to save their hides. He sent another Flamethrower, striking Corviknight square in the back. Corviknight only shook it off.</p><p><br/> "Those things can fly for miles after prey!" Hop said, trying to convince Leon to think of a better plan than just running. "If we can just make it to somewhere it can't get us, then we'll be fine!"</p><p><br/> "There's one problem with that."</p><p><br/> "What?"</p><p><br/> Leon stopped, making Hop stop as well. "There's nowhere to go."</p><p><br/> He was right. All this open country, and not one spot to take cover. They couldn't just keep running, either. They'd run out of energy sooner or later, and the Corviknight would catch them easily. The only solution was to fight back, but even then that posed a problem since it had figured out that it was the Trainer issuing the commands, not the pokemon acting on its own accord. It put them in serious danger either way. If only there were some way to distract it, then they could run in the other direction while it wasn't looking. The chances were slim, but-</p><p><br/> Suddenly Corviknight, merelymeters away, was blown away by a ball of blue light. The two looked back to seee a Lucario, another Aura Sphere at the ready. But it wasn't just any Lucario.</p><p><br/> "You guys owe me so much," Eliana hissed. "Briza, chase it down with an Extreme Speed!"</p><p><br/> Lucario obliged, launching at his opponent at blinding speed. Meanwhile Eliana rushed over to the boys, looking them over.</p><p><br/> "Are you hurt? What'd you even do to piss it off?"</p><p><br/> "Don't look at me!" Leon protested. Hop gave him a withered glare.</p><p><br/> "I caught a Rookidee," the younger explained, ignoring his brother. "I didn't think it'd have a parent around to defend it."</p><p><br/> "You caught your first pokemon?"</p><p><br/> "That's beside the point, Leon! He could have been killed!" Eliana looked back at Lucario for a moment to issue another command. "Force Palm!"</p><p><br/> The wolf stepped up to the exhausted Corviknight - from attempting to get away - and applied a rough punch to its jaw. The giant crow screeched, flapping at Lucario to shoo him away before it took off back to the skies where it had come from, albeit wobbly and dishelved.</p><p><br/> "You owe me <em>big time</em>," Eliana reminded them, but it was mostly pointed to Leon. "What are you even doing here anyways? Shouldn't you be at Motostoke for the Gym Challenge entries?"</p><p><br/> "I came here to give him this."</p><p><br/> Hop looked at Leon, a brow raised. The Champion handed over what looked to be a letter, signed in his own name.</p><p><br/> "It's your endorsement. You wouldn't have been able to enter without it," Leon told him. He suddenly went from relieved to wounded, seemingly angry with himself. "Of course I forgot to give it to you before we both ran off, but I was on a tight schedule."</p><p><br/> "You should be glad you showed up when you did."</p><p><br/> Hop flinched at those words. He didn't want to end up being saved by his brother. He didn't need help. He could have gotten out of that mess by himself. There was no way he was going to walk away with this being perfectly fine. He glanced at Leon, who was clueless of the younger's loathesome expression.</p><p><br/> "Why are you here, then?" Leon questioned.</p><p><br/> "I came here to see how much things changed in my hometown. So far, all I've seen are Wooloo. Honestly, get something else for your little farms. Maybe invest in Miltank." Eliana paused at that last sentence. "You know what, screw Miltank and get a orchard of berry trees."</p><p><br/> "It's tradition. Besides, Wooloo wool is a Galar specialty. If we gave that up, we'd lose something that the entire world loves."</p><p><br/> Eliana shrugged. "Don't be asking me to clean up all the shit out there." It was quiet for a short moment, Eliana looking over the fields with nostalgia filling her eyes. Then she stopped, snapping her attention to Hop. "Wait a minute. You're Hop?"</p><p><br/> Said Trainer slowly nodded, a little surprised.</p><p><br/> "Last time I saw you, you were about this tall." She demonstrated by holding her hand at waist-length.</p><p><br/> "Things happen," Hop replied simply. He didn't mean to sound so rash, but he had other things on his mind than gritting complimented and gushed over by someone he hardly knew.</p><p><br/> "How old are you now? Eleven?"</p><p><br/> "Twelve."</p><p><br/> "That's funny. I would have expected you to start your journey a little younger. Since your brother started the Gym Challenge at ten and became Champ the same year, if you know what I mean. Even I started at ten."</p><p><br/> Hop tried to keep himself from glaring, not impressed with being compared with his brother for the fifth time today.</p><p><br/> "Raihan was eleven," Leon piped up.</p><p><br/> "He had family shit to deal with, though, so that hardly counts."</p><p><br/> Leon gave an agreeable shrug, but he was a bit distracted nonetheless. He was hardly paying attention now, obviously thinking about something else.</p><p><br/> "So were you given a pokemon to start out, or was Wooloo your base?"</p><p><br/> "I have Flash," Hop said, looking over his shoulder. Said Scorbunny was chasing after an unsuspecting Nickit, trying to play.</p><p><br/> "So that's what you did with the other two. What about the monkey?" Eliana elbowed Leon gently, snapping him out of whatever fantasy he was thinking of.</p><p><br/> "Oh, I decided to keep Grookey. I don't have him with me, though," he explained. "Since you took Sobble, he was the only one left without a proper Trainer. I might give him away to someone who really needs him, but he and I are pretty close already."</p><p><br/> Eliana nodded in understanding. She turned to Hop again. "You're heading to Motostoke, right? For the Gym Challenge admissions?"</p><p><br/> "Yes," Hop clarified.</p><p><br/> "I was heading there, too. I mean, everyone else is going, so why not?" </p><p><br/> "You'll see the other gym leaders, too. If you were interested in knowing about them," Leon added.</p><p><br/> "I've heard about Nessa plenty of times from Raihan. And I assume Opal's stepped down."</p><p><br/> "She's still the fairy-type leader. She's hardly anywhere near giving up."</p><p><br/> "Isn't she ninety or something?"</p><p><br/> "Who knows anymore."</p><p><br/> Hop took this time to slowly make his way around them, leaving without alerting anyone. He felt so out of place that it hurt. He'd just move on to Wedgehurst and take the train to Motostoke, no problem. Maybe he'd even stop at the Wild Area to train his new catch, or even train everyone overall. There was always the chance of being challenged to a battle anywhere you went, and Hop wasn't the kind to back down from that in fear of making a bad name for himself. Hop the coward. Absolutely horrible to even think about. He sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets and keeping his head down.</p><p><br/> "I'd even be dragging Leon's reputation through the dirt," he mumbled to himself. No matter what he did, it'd reflect on Leon. He had such a small window of being able to do what he wanted that it was nearly impossible to enjoy himself without having to worry about his brother earning a bad reputation because of him.<br/> He shook hi head to clear those thoughts from his mind, lifting his head a little. This was a new chance for him to make himself known. And he wasn't going to screw this up - not easily. So he set his sights to Wedgehurst, not keen in getting distracted any longer.</p><p>•••</p><p> Motostoke was a huge city. One of the largest in Galar, to be exact. Though it was hardly new, tying with Hammerlocke as the oldest. Like the city of dragons, this place had kept its old-fashioned style, though that didn't mean that there wasn't new technology. The pokemon centers were top-notch, complete with a Rotomi and the most recent models of the pokemon restoration tools. Being a pokemon center, it was important to keep up with things like that to ensure the best care for their patients.</p><p><br/> But of course, Eliana wasn't interested in that. After she had gotten to Motostoke courtesy of a flying taxi while Leon did his own thing in preparation for the gym challenge to start up, she'd booked a room at the Budew Drop Inn, lucky she even found a room since they were almost all occupied by challengers waiting for the entries in the gym tomorrow. It was the statue that stood front and center from where you walked in that caught her eye. She barely remember the old stories she used to hear, but she still recalled something about a sword and shield, maybe a dim memory of a hero or two. It all depended on who you heard the tales from. It was a story so old that it had an insane amount of variations. Here, it was clear that whoever made this statue had interpreted the legend as having one hero, holding a sword and shield respective to the main part of the legend itself. Man, it brought back memories.</p><p><br/> Her sight was cut off by a Butterfree, flapping its way through after a Surskit. THat was when Eliana realized all the pokemon and Trainers there were here. Half of them had left, some had gone to their rooms already, but a few remained in the lobby talking amongst themselves or steering away from social contact. The two bug-types that had swerved by met a young girl at her side, who greeted her pokemon with joy and upmost care. A bug-type specialist, most likely. And not too far away from her was a boy tending to a Deino and Bagon, a Dratini perched on his shoulder. Dragon-types. What really intrigued Eliana was the fact that he had a keychain in the shape of the dragon-type gym logo hooked to his bag. Leon must not be the only one she knew that had endorsed someone.</p><p><br/> "You don't look like you're from around here."</p><p><br/> At first Eliana was tempted to snap back, You have no idea, but then she realized that she had indeed adjusted quite a lot to the Sinnoh fashion trend. She turned to meet her interrogator, a little drawn back when she did.</p><p><br/> "You don't, either," she argued back, keeping a lighthearted tone to make sure she didn't sound too unfriendly.</p><p><br/> The girl in question, Galarian accent aside, certainly didn't look like she was part of the region. She could fit in with Sinnoh any day with that look. She definitely had the cute goth girl act going on.</p><p><br/> "Trust me, I've been born and raised in Galar, as much as I hate to admit it," she replied. Her pokemon, a Morpeko, chittered at her feet as if adding on to that statement. The girl narrowed her eyes. "Do I know you from somewhere?"</p><p><br/> "Well, I am a pretty big deal in the world. It wouldn't surprise me that you've at least heard my name somewhere."</p><p><br/> She shook her head, dismissing the thought. "Name's Marnie. I come from over in the East. Spikemuth if you really want to know."</p><p><br/> "Eliana. I was born in Galar and grew up in Sinnoh." Eliana almost laughed at the complete change in Marnie's expression at the sudden realization.</p><p><br/> "You're the one that beat Cynthia."</p><p><br/> "Damn right."</p><p><br/> "Oh, anyone could beat her if they wanted too. She just had weak opponents," came another voice.</p><p><br/> It was the boy with the dragon-types, though he didn't bother looking at them. He only scratched his Deino under the chin, ignoring the scathing glare from Eliana.</p><p><br/> "And you are?"</p><p><br/> "None of your concern. All you need to know is that even I could beat Cynthia, but I'm more focussed on ruining Leon's winning streak." His Deino looked in their direction, though being blind, it merely sniffed and snapped at open air.</p><p><br/> "Now I know who endorsed you," Eliana muttered. Arceus, he even had the same attitude as Raihan. He could be his kid if you thought about it hard enough. But it was impossible. Raihan would never in his life settle down and spare his precious time for anything like that. The kid must have spent enough time around the gym leader to pick up his personality. It wasn't necessarily a good thing, though.</p><p><br/> "Don't mind him; He's a prick no matter how you look at it," Marnie told her. "But what are you doing here? Don't you have Champion things to do in Sinnoh?"<br/> "It's my vacation. I decided to come home this year to see how things were. I go back in a month or so, though, so it's not all that special. It was a miracle I decided to show up around the time of the gym challenge."</p><p><br/> To be honest, she'd been planning this for years. She'd just never got around to it. After struggling for years to defeat Cynthia, she had gone through so much to adjust to her new life as Champion, especially so after saving the world from Galactic's mayhem. It was a wonder how she even found time for a break from all that in the first place. She'd specifically set her vacation time in mid-summer - at least in Galar - to catch the gym challenge. The reason behind that was to see Leon in action. Before, she'd only seen his matches on TV, maybe on the screen of her phone, but she'd always wanted to see them in person. This was her chance. Though she had just missed the exhibition match, which had happened a day prior to her coming home. It was the same as always, though, with Raihan ultimatly getting pummelled by Leon and sent back running home with his tail between his legs. Very rarely someone else fought Leon. One time it had been Bea, the fighting-type gym leader, another it had been Nessa. Raihan's been the only one that's come close to beating him, though. It wasn't likely anyone ever would beat Leon. If anything, the Champion himself would have to step down just to give someone else a shot at the spot.</p><p><br/> Unfortunately for Eliana, she was the same way and was so hardcore after training for Cynthia that no one could beat her except for her own best friend. Leon was the World Champion, after all. Eliana really wanted to look into that tournament, too. It;d give her something to do while she was bored, at least. All the best Trainers and Champions came to Wyndon for the battle of the year, and the one that stood in the end was crowned World Champion. Raihan had even made it in last year to fight Leon for the thousandth time, but lost as always. Leon had even fought Lance in the same year, which was always a memorable occasion. If only Eliana could make her way there, she'd mow down the competition like a hot knife to butter and kick Leon's ass. She may lose in a 1 v 1 battle, but a full team battle would surely get her a win out of it.</p><p><br/> "I don't really aim to win. My brother made me join, said I should 'get out more'," Marnie sighed.</p><p><br/> "Human contact's always good for your health. Can't depend on pokemon all the time, can you?" Eliana tried reasoning.</p><p><br/> The other shrugged. "I've been perfectly fine my entire life with just Morpeko. She's the best partner I could ever ask for."</p><p><br/> Morpeko squeaked happily in reply.</p><p><br/> Eliana turned her attention back to the statue. "So what's the story behind this one?"</p><p><br/> "Don't know. I never bothered to get into the whole Darkest Day stuff. You could find what you need at the library, though. Motostoke isn't the biggest, but it's got some useful records in there. At least from what I've heard. The real juicy stuff is over in Hammerlocke."</p><p><br/> "Thanks. Hey, if we run into each other again, why don't we battle? I'll go easy, I promise," Eliana offered. Marnie smiled at her, considering it.</p><p><br/> "I'll have to think on it," she answered. She took her leave, though it took Morpeko a moment to realize that since she was more interested in smelling Eliana's shoe. When she did notice, she ran as fast as her tiny little legs could go so she could catch up.</p><p><br/> Eliana crossed her arms. "Library, huh? A little reading wouldn't hurt," she said to herself.</p><p> </p><p>•••</p><p> </p><p> Of course it was Wooloo. It was always Wooloo. Without them, he would have been at Motostoke hours ago. But of course a group of them decided to sleep on the rails, meaning that the train had to take a pit stop. Hop decided on going the long way through the Wild Area, thinking it was faster than waiting for those overgrown cotton balls to get a move on. He kept reminding himself that a little training couldn't hurt. But of course, nothing seemed interesting enough to add to his team, and he was already wary of that after the Corviknight incident. On the way here, he'd tried warming up to Quicksilver a little more, and he thought he had a lead on it, if not at least getting somewhere in winning over the bird's friendship.</p><p><br/> No one ever told him how big the Wild Area actually was. It was absolutely huge, and Motostoke was a mere blur on the horizon from where he stood. All he knew was that he was by some lake and a few berry trees, in which contained a few angry Skwovet and Greedent that liked throwing their food at the passing Trainer, mostly firing a few Bullet Seeds here and there.</p><p><br/> At this rate it could take him the rest of the day. He might even have to camp for the night and continue tomorrow, but he couldn't risk being late for the gym challenge entries. He just couldn't. And since he hadn't been to Motostoke before, the flying taxis wouldn't allow him a ride over there. So it was all on foot from here. There wasn't even any other Trainers around, just him and the wild pokemon that lived in the area.</p><p><br/> Hop had probably been walking for an hour and a half when he reached the end of the lake. From here Motostoke could be seen fairly clearly now. Even Hammerlocke was a dim shadow in the distance. Almost there. If he could just make it beyond the last stretch of the second lake, then he'd be able to stop and catch his breath. It'd be so much easier if he'd waited for the train to continue. But it was too late to turn back now, especially with his goal in sight.</p><p><br/> Along the way he'd avoided a few more powerful wandering pokemon, including Mudsdale or Onix, since he was completely unprepared to fight any of them. They'd be awesome for his team, but something like that could take forever to warm up to. He'd be swept from under his feet in no time, anyways.</p><p><br/> So he just kept to himself, keeping his head low to avoid eye contact with pokemon to keep from triggering them into chasing after him. Hop felt like his legs could fall off at this point. An hour or so later, he could finally see Motostoke in all its glory. He was steps away from getting out of this stupid place. With his heart filled with hope, he decided to run the rest of the way. But he was stopped before he ran into a Solosis, which squeaked in surprise at his presence. Solosis weren't from around here.</p><p><br/> "Well, well, well. Look what the Purrloin dragged in."</p><p><br/> Hop furrowed his brow in confusion. He didn't see anyone at all, and it would be near impossible to miss someone if he passed them even on accident. The Solosis must belong to this Trainer.</p><p><br/> "I think we scored a weak one."</p><p><br/> Oh, he wanted to play that way, huh? Hop could spare a few minutes for a battle. What else could possibly go wrong?</p><p> </p><p>•••</p><p> </p><p> It had been forever since Eliana had been in a library. The last time she was, it was in a frantic search to find out the lore and legends behind Palkia and Dialga, trying to discover if Cyrus really could do what he was trying to do. But this time it was supposed to be a relaxing trip, off to find some old texts and novels to pick up and read to learn more about the Darkest Day and what it had to offer. Motostoke's library in particular was a beautiful one. It was fairly large, pristine, and even the books were well-sorted. And yet Eliana failed to find a single thing on the old Galar legends, about fifteen minutes of searching wasted. She resorted to going up to the front desk, getting a read on the librarian's personality from a distance before talking to her.</p><p><br/> "Excuse me?"</p><p><br/> The young woman jumped slightly, attention drawn away from the book she had her nose in. She adjusted her glasses, giving a smile before addressing Eliana. "How may I help you?"</p><p><br/> "I'm looking for some books on the Darkest Day?"</p><p><br/> She stood, nodding. "Yes, of course. We keep those in our back room with all the other antiques. Not nearly as large as Hammerlocke's collection, but we call it home," she replied. "Come, come, it's right over here."</p><p><br/> Eliana followed her to the back, waiting for her to unlock the door so they could go in.</p><p><br/> "The light in here died a long time ago and we haven't gotten around to replacing it yet. Would you like a flashlight?"</p><p><br/> "I've got one." She held up her phone.</p><p><br/> As soon as she could see, she was amazed by how much was crammed into such a small room. Some books were too large to fit on the shelves, taking a place on the one table that stood in the center of the room. Some of those were old atlases, maps that showed how Galar looked back then. It was very different, as the bottom half of the region was populated more than the top, which was the opposite of what it was today. Apparently down in the uninhabited parts today, there had been a castle. The more you know, she supposed.</p><p><br/> "There's an entire section right here, miss. All the different versions that you could think of. Though the most accurate one you'll find is all the way in Hammerlocke. Their library is much larger and better than this one, and they even have possession of the king's diary," the librarian said, looking amongst the shelves for a book for herself.</p><p><br/> "The king?"</p><p><br/> "The last king Galar had before the Darkest Day hit. Since then, we've gotten rid of those customs and turned it into what we have today. Basic laws and government, nothing too grand. But that's any region, isn't it?" The librarian gave a small giggle at her own joke. "Here, this is my favorite. I like to think that the sword and shield were pokemon. Beautiful and majestic, helping their partners strike down the enemy and bring peace to the kingdom." She grabbed a particularly large book from the shelf, handing it to Eliana. She almost dropped it because she wasn't expecting it to be so heavy. "Unfortunately the last person that borrowed it wrote all over the pages. I'm awfully sorry if it ruins the experience."</p><p><br/> Eliana shook her head. "No, it'll be fine. Thank you. To be honest, I was expecting a book half-eaten by bugs. This is way better than I thought it would be."</p><p><br/> The librarian nodded eagerly. "Only the best for our visitors. Do you have a card?"</p><p><br/> "No, I'm just a tourist." Not entirely a lie. But it wasn't exactly the truth, either.</p><p><br/> "That's fine. I'll write down your name and number so we can contact you if needed. What was your name again?"</p><p><br/> "Eliana."</p><p><br/> The librarian almost dropped her pen. This was the second time someone had only recognized her by name, but it was kind of amusing to see their reactions. "The Eliana? The new Champion of Sinnoh?"</p><p><br/> "That's me."</p><p><br/> "Oh, Arceus, it's such an honor to meet you! I've always wanted to go to Sinnoh to see one of your battles in person. I never expected to meet you!"</p><p><br/> "Aw, it's always nice to hear that I have dedicated fans. I'll tell you what. I'll let Leon know to tell the league to let you in the Championship Match this year for free."</p><p><br/> She gasped. "You're serious?"</p><p><br/> "Well, I'd say anything for a fan, but I just think you deserve a reward for all the hard work you've put into this place." Eliana gave her a handshake. "Want a picture? When I return the book, I'll have it printed and signed for you."</p><p><br/> "That'd be amazing."</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> Excitement aside, the librarian, whose name was Patricia, left Eliana to her reading. Alone, she had no worries of being interrupted if she was in one of her zones. Once she started getting into this stuff, there was no way of getting her out of it. She flipped to a ransom page to start, and was immediately drawn by a artwork that stretched across the entirety of the two pages. Two wolf-like pokemon, each attacking a large dragon-looking creature. But the dragon's drawing was smudged, so it was hard to tell what it was. Instead she looked at the other two pokemon, caught by their beauty. The artist certainly paid attention to detail. As expected, each one held a sword and shield respectively, charging into battle with fiery eyes. It certainly looked like it could be real. But after looking over the pokemon, she saw a bit of writing in the corner of her eye. It wasn't part of the book, either. Patricia did warn her that it had been vandalized. She decided to read it, not thinking it was anything important. But instead she found notes on pokemon types and something called a Wishing Star. She'd heard of these; They were what was used to make dynamax bands, which were used to dynamax pokemon. The technology was still fairly new.</p><p><br/> But why discuss it on a book like this? One that was way before that time?</p><p><br/> Something told her that this creature had something to do with it. All it did was give her bad vibes, so she decided to start at the beginning and work her way to the end instead of staring at that monster for the rest of the night.</p><p><br/> It still haunted the back of her mind, though. She couldn't help but wonder what it was.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Here Be Dragons</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was safe to say that she didn't sleep at all. After she had gotten back to her hotel room, Eliana had opened the book again to stare at the dragon-like creature that had been printed on the page. Or, more specifically, the notes beside it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It turns out that Wishing Stars were indeed what were used to make dynamax bands, which were used by Trainers around the region to dynamax and gigantamax their pokemon. The gemstones could be found randomly, in mines, fields, even falling out of the sky. Once processed and broken down, the energy inside them was used to supersize any pokemon it came in contact with. It was only found in Galar, which brought up theories and speculations about where and when they started to first appear. The last person that had had this book obviously was connecting this beast to Wishing Stars. Eliana had scouted the entire book for more notes like this, finding some text highlighted and maybe underlined once or twice. Most of that was either mentioning the Darkest Day or the monster that caused it. And yet through all this searching, Eliana couldn't find a single mention of its name. The only hint she was given was from the notes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eternatus.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, that sounded inviting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hey, if it was a dragon, then Raihan should know at least a little about it. Hopefully. If he even cared about it at all. As far as Eliana knew, there was no one else more skilled in dragon-type history than him. Though getting him to cooperate was another.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She yawned, looking at her phone for the time. Upon realizing it was already eight in the morning, she nearly choked on her own spit and air. Had she seriously been up </span>
  <em>
    <span>all night </span>
  </em>
  <span>reading that thing? Eliana shook her head, closing the book and setting it aside. She had to get to the stadium and quick. There was no doubt Leon and Hop were already there. Raihan, too, which was convenient for her. This was the first time she’d be seeing a gym challenge in person, at least in Galar. That, and she was curious to see how much Leon did as far as introducing the challenge and what it was. She heard that Rose did most of the talking, and that Leon was just there to exist (which was honestly her entire life summed up in one sentence).</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The lobby was completely empty save for the few hotel staff that were working behind the desk or tidying up after the mess the challengers left behind. Well, not really the challengers, but rather their pokemon. Eliana said a quick hello before rushing out the front doors, fumbling to get her bag situated on her shoulders correctly. She even had to squint because the sun was so surprisingly bright. Even Lightning was struggling to keep up, having been startled out of sleep and begrudgingly following his Trainer away from his spot. He was like a drunken sailor, stumbling around with half a brain cell to run on as he tried to comprehend what was happening. The poor Luxray tripped more than what he was proud to admit just as he caught up to stalk by Eliana’s side, flashing a few angry glares at passing citizens and tourists - at least the ones that weren’t at the stadium to watch the admissions.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luckily for her, the stadium itself wasn’t that far away. It was only a quick jog, but getting through and inside was another story. Apparently the seats were already sold out, which was something that hadn’t happened in years. Eliana heard some people mention that it was because of the new challengers that had come in, most especially Leon’s surprise endorsement. It was the first time the Champion himself had endorsed another challenger for the gym challenge, and not everyone would expect it to be his own brother.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Upon entering the stadium, Eliana was greeted by a nearly empty lobby. Like the hotel, only the staff were seen, and they seemed absolutely exhausted and the challenges hadn’t even started. Luckily the staff here wouldn’t have to worry about it for a few more days since the Trainers would be off collecting their first two badges. Why the admissions were in Motostoke and not Wyndon was beyond her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“El! Just in time,” Leon’s voice rang. He appeared to have come out of nowhere, rushing up to his friend with a stressed expression. “They saved a seat for you, don’t worry. We’ve got five minutes until the whole thing starts, so hurry up.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He gave a short exhale, muttering something to himself as he wandered off in the other direction, but turned right back around and became angrier with himself upon discovering that he was going the wrong way. Eliana watched with concern, but she couldn’t help but feel a little amused. She wondered if he had something to deal with, or had dealt with that rubbed him in the wrong direction. She’d never seen him so on edge before. It must be the stress that comes with making sure everything goes perfectly and not screw up, which knowing him, he’d definitely think he would. He was a nervous man and always had been.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eliana couldn’t do anything more than make her way to her reserved seat in the bleachers. Hopefully this would be a good experience and not a waste of her time.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>•••</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Raihan, you </span>
  <em>
    <span>know </span>
  </em>
  <span>that’s a bad idea.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is it though? Rose may be straighter than a nail sticking out of a wooden floor, but he wouldn’t kick us out of the league for this.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Leon rubbed his temples, too many things going on at once. He had three minutes to be ready and out on that pitch before he was in trouble, and no one liked seeing Rose angry. Speaking of…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Raihan watched him pace, leaned against the lockers with his phone in one hand and the other in his pocket. He sighed, trying to come up with something to add to his statement, but Leon beat him to it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know the contract. If he finds out, if </span>
  <em>
    <span>anyone </span>
  </em>
  <span>finds out, we’re both done for,” he admonished. “We agreed on this last year. No one knows, and no one will know. You can’t just go out and tell the world we’re together, no matter how much we want to be accepted.” He stuttered for a second, taking a seat on the bench and resting his head in his palms. Of all the times Raihan had to suggest something like this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Leon ran a hand through his hair, trying to keep his cool. What he needed was some time alone to get ready so he could actually get out there on time. But of course Raihan barged in with the grand idea that they should tell the entire stadium they were dating during the event. If Leon’s stress level’s weren’t high enough, they were absolutely through the roof now. Something like that, especially since it would be so dramatic and sudden, would get them both kicked out of the league completely. There were to be no relationships inside the league, let alone… well, you get the picture. Maybe if Rose wasn’t as strict as he was, they could do it. But Rose had to be one of those people that looked down on the matter, and the only thing that the league did in respect to LGBTQ+ was fundraisers. Anyone else in the league would be perfectly fine. It was </span>
  <em>
    <span>Rose </span>
  </em>
  <span>that had a problem. And if Rose had a problem with it, he made it everyone’s problem.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re spacing out.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Leon blinked. He glanced up again, trying to come back to his senses. Right. He was busy. He got to his feet, shooing Raihan away. “Go on, I need space,” he mumbled, not even looking at him before he turned around to go back to his own locker. Raihan scoffed, crossing his arms.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Like I ain’t seen nothing under that shirt of yours,” he argued, making Leon choke on the breath he just took. “I’m kidding. Fine, I’ll leave, I’m gone, adios.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Leon rolled his eyes. “Not like that, dumbass.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Raihan let out a chuckle, meeting Leon at his side again. He stared down at him until Leon caved into the pressure.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What now?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I just want to tell you how devilishly handsome you are. It should be illegal.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nice try.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He frowned. “Or maybe I just need to tell you that no matter what happens, we’ll stick together. We made that promise years ago, remember?” When Leon seemed to ignore him, Raihan shut the locker door, gaining his attention again, albeit annoyed. “Right under that old berry tree by Lake Axewell’s coast. THe same day Charmander evolved into Charmeleon. The same day I told you about the issue with mom.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Leon remained silent.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We made a promise. No matter what, nothing would keep us apart. Best friends till the end. Fuck Rose, I don’t care what he thinks. Have you </span>
  <em>
    <span>seen </span>
  </em>
  <span>the league’s community? They already love us as a duo and we haven’t even said anything. That should at least give you some sense that someone’s there to back us up when the going gets tough.” Raihan took Leon’s hands in his, giving a heartfelt smile. Leon’s brain shut down, and it was pretty obvious by the way his face deadpanned, eyes drawn to their fingers being intertwined. Raihan let go of one hand, using the free one to grab Leon’s chin instead. “Right? Us against the world. Or, at least, the world against Rose.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The other’s gaze softened, a smile playing on his lips. “Yeah, I guess so,” he replied, finally meeting Raihan’s ice blue eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If anyone wants to stand in our way, let them know who the real Trainer is. We’re the most powerful ones in Galar, may I remind you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shut up.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Raihan glanced away for a second, lost in thought. “Now get out there and make Galar proud. You’re not gonna screw up, you’ve done this a hundred times.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Technically-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Leon shut his mouth mid-sentence, startled. Raihan realized his mistake, cursing under his breath before explaining himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, I meant don’t pull that technical bullshit on me. Seriously, you’ll do great. You always do,” he reassured him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wow, they were really close, weren’t they? Leon panicked slightly, conflicted on whether to stay or move away. Raihan’s stare had him glued to the spot, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>man </span>
  </em>
  <span>it was hot in here. Leon stammered, trying to find the right words. But when he looked up again to say something, Raihan stopped him with a kiss. Leon froze for a moment, but leaned into the touch nonetheless. He opened his eyes just slightly, and-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Shit</span>
  </em>
  <span> I’m late!” he yelped, pushing Raihan out of the way before barrelling out the door. Raihan stood where he was, blinking in bewilderment. So much for that idea.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Leon, you forgot your stupid cape!”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>It went without saying that the stadium was absolutely packed to the brim. This was the first time in years it was this full, if that didn’t stress him out enough. Leon took a deep breath, not even having to look to tell that the fans were excited. You could hear it for miles if you tried hard enough. Though after ten years of dealing with loud crowds like this, it hardly fazed him. Rose was already out there giving the run-down about what the gym challenge was, why they hold it every year, everyone’s a qualified Trainer, blah blah blah. And since this year was the </span>
  <em>
    <span>tenth</span>
  </em>
  <span> anniversary of Leon’s reign as Champion, a special guest had been invited to do a battle before the big championship match. Who it was, he didn’t know. He just hoped it was someone he could deal with fast so he didn’t have to stand out there for too long.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yeah, the unbeatable Champion of Galar - and the world - was nervous. He wasn’t proud of it, of course. It was hard for him to even handle this stuff when he was younger, and he formed a backbone over the years, slapping himself in the face and saying “get over it”. He still had that creeping feeling that all those eyes out there were judging his every move and word, just waiting for the chance to tell him he was the worst, that Galar deserved a better Champion, that it was pure luck that he won the worldwide tournament. To be perfectly honest, they were right. Leon paused, shaking his head. Not now. He’d go cry in a corner later. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your Champion!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Leon cursed, not realizing Rose had finished his speech. He quickly got to his place out on the pitch, striking his famous Charizard Pose just for the fun of it. The crowd of course erupted, either following along or too busy cheering or taking photos. Rose flashed him an unreadable expression, stepping aside to let him finish the talking bit. Oleana was there, too, but she hardly paid any attention.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charizard stalked to his side, taking a proud stance with his head held high and everything. Show-off. Leon tried not to focus on the crowd, thinking of something else before going off into his usual “welcome to the gym challenge” speech.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hardly opened his mouth before he was drowned out by the stadium again. He glanced at Rose, swallowing roughly and forcing himself to get on with it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Galar!” he began, and he couldn’t help but smile at how many people actually said hi back. “Welcome to the official opening of the Galar League Gym Challenge! I hope you’re all having as much of a champion time as I am.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He could </span>
  <em>
    <span>feel </span>
  </em>
  <span>the eyerolls from a couple people out there - one of them probably being Eliana. She never did understand the whole catchphrase bit, even going to lengths of calling the Charizard Pose idiotic and stupid. Leon’s excuse was always that he had the whole thing planned out before he even began his gym challenge as a joke, but here he was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This year we have some interesting additions, including a few endorsements that probably drew you here in the first place. I’ve endorsed a challenger myself, if that would make any difference.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh, they loved that. No doubt he’d be bombarded with questions on why he’d bring his own brother into the matter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“As before, I’d like to announce that the Gym Challenge is for everyone! I love seeing young new faces stepping up to the experience of a lifetime, and it’s all to make themselves better Trainers in the long run! Remember, even if you lose, there’s always next year. Put your trust in yourself and your pokemon, and you’re sure to go places.” Leon quickly scoured the crowd for any traces of someone he knew, but there were too many people to tell. He gave a short exhale, trying to convince himself not to panic. Might as well just get it over with before he did. “And now, the Galar Gym Challenge is officially open!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And this was where Rose stepped up again, though the look he gave Leon wasn’t friendly at all. It wasn’t like he </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew </span>
  </em>
  <span>anything, right?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Right?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, the Gym Challenge!” Rose added. “Participants must defeat the eight gym leaders and gather the gym badges to prove their skills as a Trainer! Only the most worthy will have the honor of challenging the greatest Champion in history!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Like that’s what </span>
  <em>
    <span>he </span>
  </em>
  <span>thinks. Leon rolled his eyes, but kept a smile on his face to appease the fans.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now, I would like to invite the gym leaders to show themselves!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That’s when the crowd went ballistic. Leon couldn’t stop himself from turning around to watch. The gym leaders, all nine of them (discluding Piers, since he couldn’t show up for the fifth year in a row) each walked out onto the pitch, though Leon’s attention was mostly focused on a certain someone who looked right back and gave the most </span>
  <em>
    <span>adorable smile brain stop this is no time to be gay.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Rose continued on to introduce them all. “The fighting farmer! The grass-type expert, Milo! The raging wave! It’s the master of water-types, Nessa!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nessa got more love than Milo did, for some… slightly obvious reasons. Leon blinked, deciding not to dwell on that. Okay, maybe he wasn’t entirely gay. Don’t tell anyone he admitted that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The ever-burning man of fire! Here comes the fire-type veteran, Kabu! The Galar karate prodigy! Nobody’s better with fighting-types than Bea! The silent boy of mystery! Allister, friend to ghost-types!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bea and Allister always stuck together. It was like a rule made between the two of them, to never be apart. Most of the reason behind it was that Allister was very timid. Large crowds terrified him, and Bea, being the sister figure she was, gave him reassurance to carry on like it was nothing. People should learn from them, quite honestly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The master of fantastic theatre! It’s the charming fairy-type user, Opal!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Charming” wasn’t exactly the right word to use there. It was a wonder how that woman was still even alive.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The hard-rock crusher! Please welcome the rock-type master Gordie! And his mother, the ice-cold professional, Melony!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now, if there was one thing about family relationships, Leon would </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>recommend learning from these two. Gordie hated his mother with a passion, but Melony still insisted to baby him in every way possible. Then there was the bit about having like a hundred other siblings (not really, but it sure felt like it). No wonder Gordie wanted to get away from all that. Leon felt all the sympathy in the world for him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And last, but definitely not least…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now Leon’s attention was </span>
  <em>
    <span>piqued</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The timer of dragons! It’s Raihan, the top gym leader!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh, Arceus, don’t smile like that. Leon scrunched up his nose like he’d just caught a whiff of something nasty, forcing himself to look away. Of course Raihan had to give him that look. The absolute nerve, that </span>
  <em>
    <span>bastard. </span>
  </em>
  <span>He </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew </span>
  </em>
  <span>that would set him off. And not in the bad way either, but that didn’t mean it was off-limits at the moment. Leon looked back at him, giving a slight nod in Rose’s direction to give him the hint to dial it down a notch. Hopefully no one noticed that. Raihan only gave an even more smug grin, but looked away to wave at the stadium’s audience. Leon swallowed again, breaking into a nervous sweat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Unfortunately, we’re missing one, but these are the gym leaders that we in the Galar region are proud to call our own!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh, Leon was proud alright.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rose cleared his throat to get Leon’s attention, gesturing towards the other end of the stadium. Leon snapped out of it, tripping over his words.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s meet our challengers!” he cheered, then let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He could feel Rose’s glare on the back of his head, and Leon would be lying if he said he wasn’t slightly afraid. There was no way he knew anything. No way. No way at all. Leon kept telling himself that, but he didn’t believe it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>•••</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Don’t panic. Don’t panic don’t panic don’t panic.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Hop felt his palms sweating, barely even comprehending what was going on thanks to his anxiety. Oh, there was no </span>
  <em>
    <span>way </span>
  </em>
  <span>he was going out there. Not in front of all those people. What if he screwed up? What if he was laughed at? What if people hated him and hated Leon for that too? Would he make Leon look like an absolute idiot in front of thousands. Well, thanks to international television, it would probably be broadcasted to millions.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>didn’t help at all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His deep breathing exercise quickly escalated into hyperventilating, which wasn’t good. Obviously, but it was the only thing his brain was processing at the moment. Nothing was good. Everything was terrible. Fuck his life. No thanks, let him bury himself in a hole and die there, eventually decompose in it if he was lucky enough. Anything to get out of here.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So he went to turn around, but was met with someone he had run into last night before heading off into his room at the hotel.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Woah, there, mate, you doin’ alright?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>No</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Hop wheezed, trying to get past.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You gotta hurl or somethin’?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He looked at her, nodding. “Yeah, don’t worry about it. Forget about me, I’ll be fine.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Marnie stuttered. “I- Are you really alright, though?” she called out, honestly concerned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hop had to stop. He wouldn’t look good if he lied. As if he looked good at all anyways. Besides, she was a girl, so he was obligated to treat her with respect. He learned that lesson the hard way, thanks to his own mother and Sonia. Nothing got past women, no matter how hard you tried.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Something caught his attention. He had the feeling that </span>
  <em>
    <span>someone </span>
  </em>
  <span>was staring at him. Hop tried to look over the heads of the other challengers, eyes meeting someone else’s. His heart skipped a beat. It was that same Trainer that demolished his team in the Wild Area yesterday. Why look so smug and grumpy? He couldn’t help but narrow his eyes back, only to find that the other Trainer just looked away. Like he didn’t matter. Well, that was definitely helpful in this scenario.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Marnie tapped him on the shoulder, making him nearly leap out of his skin. “Sorry,” she quickly apologized. “Don’t bother with him. He’s an arse. Endorsed by the Chairman, and he makes sure everyone knows about it. Like it makes him better than everyone else. Trust me, he’s just bad news waiting to happen.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It certainly seemed like it. “What’s his name?” Hop asked, not taking his eyes off the Trainer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bede. He doesn’t tell that to people, though, at least not unless you seem like someone he wants to bother with.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Someone he wants to bother with? Hop hadn’t told him that he was Leon’s brother yesterday. Maybe he just seemed like the type that was easy to beat? The thought alone made Hop’s blood boil slightly. Maybe he was easily beaten yesterday. How else was he supposed to defend against pokemon he hardly knew? Solosis was Unovan, not Galarian. And what about that Hettrem and Ponyta? Nothing should be that strong. Not at such an early stage. He was caught off-guard, that’s all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, c’mon,” Marnie urged him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shoot, they were going out there already? Hop swallowed roughly, feeling like he was going to die on spot. There was no way he was going out there and surviving the burning gazes of thousands of people. Millions, even, if international television counted. But he had no choice. It was do or die, and he might as well get it over with before he hurt himself over it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Suddenly he felt very lightheaded. He shook his head, trying to snap out of it. This was nothing. No one was going to laugh at him. At least not that he knew of. He could just blend into the crowd. No one would notice him. Yeah, that’s it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If only he felt like that plan would work.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With one final deep breath, he followed the others out onto the pitch.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>•••</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What do you mean, ‘he disappeared’?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Raihan shrugged, turning back to answer some more questions for the paparazzi. He was multitasking, snapping selfies with fans and speaking with newscasters like it was no problem. Eliana on the other hand felt like she was suffocating, trying her best to do what she was asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Leon’s gonna kill us if he finds out we didn’t keep an eye on his brother,” she muttered back to Raihan.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well maybe we should put a leash on him. Try a shock collar. Make sure he doesn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>want </span>
  </em>
  <span>to run off.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Raihan.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eliana rolled her eyes. “Well, who’s gonna tell him, then?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not it,” the other replied nearly instantly, taking the time to pose for another photo. He was such an attention whore, wasn’t he? “You haven’t seen Lee angry, and you don’t need to see him angry. Arceus, that man holds a grudge for ages.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Personal experience?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Great.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eliana waved at a few people before slipping away, trying to avoid running into even more on the way back inside the stadium. Maybe someone saw where Hop went. Highly unlikely, because that kid could be practically invisible when he wanted to be. It was a good trait, but man did he use it at the worst possible times. The lobby of the stadium was at least empty for the most part, given for the few Trainers that were sticking around to talk. Even Milo had stayed behind, giving some of them directions and tips before they fought his gym. Eliana tried scouting out someone familiar, but found nothing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She’d ask Leon for some help, but he was currently in a meeting with the Chairman, and she doubted they were taking untimely interruptions. Rose seemed like a nice guy, but from what she’s heard, he was really the opposite when it came down to business.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where the hell did you go?” she mumbled to herself, walking back out into the deafening crowd and attempting to maneuver around everyone to try and make some progress in her search. Eliana stopped when she reached the Inn, debating on whether he’d be in his room contemplating life’s choices (which, honestly, was her current mood).</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Just as she was taking a step inside, she heard some pretty loud and agitated voices in the distance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, it’s certainly not </span>
  <em>
    <span>my </span>
  </em>
  <span>fault you’re a horrible Trainer.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not a horrible Trainer! You’re just not giving me a chance!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wait a damn minute.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I gave you a chance, and you lost it. You’re wasting my time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Battle me again!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eliana froze. Oh yeah. That’s definitely him. She tried to find the source of the yelling, eyes catching on the western exit of Motostoke. Yeah, that was Hop alright. But whoever he was with was someone she had never seen before. Maybe she’d caught a glimpse of him last night, but there had been so many Trainers that it was hard to keep track of who was who.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Apparently Hop was fuming. The other Trainer just looked bored, uninterested in whoever this strange insect that kept annoying him was. Eliana got a little closer, observing for now. If it got heated at all, she’d step up, but it was only words now. They’d probably duke it out in a battle or something.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you serious?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hop nodded. “I’ll win this time. I know it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The other smirked. “I highly doubt it. Go bother someone that </span>
  <em>
    <span>wants </span>
  </em>
  <span>to beat you to a pulp in their sleep. I have things to do.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh you little-” Hop growled in frustration, trying to find his voice as his rival left. It was easy to tell that he was beyond pissed off. He put a hand in his hair, the other clenching into a fist at his side before he took it out by punching the wall - only to draw back in pain, cradling his now wounded knuckles. This only angered him further of course.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Whoever that was, he seemed like someone to steer clear of. Eliana would tell Hop that, but that’d be admitting that she was eavesdropping. It </span>
  <em>
    <span>had </span>
  </em>
  <span>been for his own good, but that still didn’t mean that it was right. So instead she tried to come up with a reasonable excuse on how she ran into him. The mines. Of course! She’d never been to the mines once in her life, and she supposed it would be a good experience either way. So she walked up to Hop when he wasn’t looking, clearing her throat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>What</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Hop snarled, whipping around, but relaxed when he saw who it was. “What do you want,” he refined, still keeping the edge to his voice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was wondering if you wanted to head to the mines with me. Since you’re heading that direction anyways,” Eliana offered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He seemed to think on it, looking at the ground and taking deep breaths. “Fine. Yeah. Sure.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The kid seemed like he needed a breather anyways. He didn’t even look up at her before he began treading off in the direction of the mines, leaving Eliana behind in the dust before she followed him. Just in case, she pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to Raihan that she found Hop.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Garchomp_Hoe: </b>
  <span>found him</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Garchomp_Hoe: </b>
  <span>we’re heading the the mines for some extra training</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It didn’t take long at all for him to respond. Made sense, since he was the social butterfly of the century.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Fucking Dragon: </b>
  <span>i’ll let lee know</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Fucking Dragon: </b>
  <span>just make sure none of you die bc that won’t look good on me as a babysitter</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Garchomp_Hoe: </b>
  <span>as if you were even trying in the first place</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Fucking Dragon: </b>
  <span>i was busyyyy</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eliana sighed, not even bothering to reply to that. Raihan had his thing going on, and he was stuck in his own little world of how perfect he was in front of a camera. There was no snapping him out of it. Once he got started, he was the only one that could stop himself. Besides, he was supposed to be taking Leon’s place for the meeting with Rose once he was done. All the gym leaders met with the Chairman after the admissions, making sure things were going smoothly and everything was ready to go for the new challengers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>What was strange was that Raihan and Leon were almost back-to-back for theirs. Maybe Rose was going backwards in order of gyms. Leon, being Champion, was destined to go first. It was still strange. As soon as the two caught word of how the meetings were happening, they gave each other worried glances. Eliana  hadn’t mentioned anything about it, but it still stirred up some suspicion on her end. They had to be up to something. That was the only liable reason why. Unless… Nah. They wouldn’t do that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you coming or what?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eliana’s attention turned to Hop, who was waiting for her at the end of the bridge out into the wilderness. Impatient little thing, but for good reason. He just needed to be away from here.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Eliana called back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>•••</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leon felt his heart race as he reached the staff room in the stadium. He silently prayed that everything was going just fine and there certainly wasn’t a reason that he and Raihan were one after the other. Not a bad one in particular, anyways. All he could do was walk through the door and act like nothing was wrong. Nothing </span>
  <em>
    <span>was </span>
  </em>
  <span>wrong, was it? Rose didn’t know. Nobody knew.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Arceus, that smile hid about a thousand harsh words behind it. “Leon! My favorite Champion. Come in, take a seat,” Rose invited, using that awfully fake and warm voice. Leon gulped, shutting the door behind him and going on to sit across from Rose.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m Galar’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>only </span>
  </em>
  <span>Champion,” he replied, trying to keep his voice from wavering with stress.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rose chuckled. “Of course. There is only one Leon, and it’d be a shame for us to lose you as the greatest Champion we’ve ever seen. Oh, I never got to congratulate you on your win at the World Coronation. Congratulations on winning against Lance.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks. He had me backed into a corner, though. I’m lucky Charizard survived that last hit.” Leon gave a nervous grin, forcing himself to relax. “Where were you, anyways? That was a few months ago.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know how it is with the League and its business.” Rose straightened a stack of papers on his desk, now leaning back against his chair with his hands held in his lap. “Is there something else that I may have missed?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There it was. Leon shook his head - a little too quick of a reply - and gave a nonchalant laugh. “Not at all. Just some one-on-one training to prepare for this year’s gym challenge, and the usual sponsorship events.” He avoided eye contact with the Chairman, looking at literally anything else to avoid that judgmental stare.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a tense silence. Leon suddenly thought he said something wrong, panicking. He was in trouble, wasn’t he? If he lost his role as Champion, he lost everything. Arceus, please say he didn’t know.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Leon was frozen in place when Rose narrowed his eyes. “Anything </span>
  <em>
    <span>else</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” he pressed.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Don’t break, don’t break, don’t-</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nope.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rose sighed, shaking his head. “Leon, Leon, Leon. How do I put this? You’ve been very distracted recently, and I’ve noticed that your attention has gone elsewhere. Or to someone in particular.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have no idea what you mean,” Leon lied. “I’ve just been training hard so I don’t fall behind. Tired, that’s all.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Training hard because you’re afraid you might lose.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Leon could only nod.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Or you’re lying. I haven’t seen you train in a long time, Champ. I’ve been getting reports that you’re spending more time off dawdling with Raihan. Is that correct?”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just a couple days. It’s what friends do! I can’t ignore him because he’s my rival, can I?” Leon stopped himself from quaking, terrified that he’d been discovered. Not that it was a bad thing at all, but with Rose… You could never tell what that man would do.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, he was about to find out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sir, I-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stay away from him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rose leaned forwards just enough to make Leon lean back in fear. “We don’t need any issues regarding your ‘friendship’, now do we? Besides, you could be exposing battle tactics. Your greatest rival can’t possibly know all of that. It could backfire immensely. You understand, don’t you? We just don’t want the league to look bad with whatever you two have going on.” He gave a nowhere near reassuring smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course, sir. I’ll stay away from him.” He was too proud to cry in front of people, but damn did he feel like he’d break that right about now. Leon smiled back, blinking back tears. That didn’t mean that he and Raihan still couldn’t hide it. They’d just have to be extra careful. Unless Rose had hidden security cameras all over the place, then they wouldn’t have a problem. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Keep telling yourself that.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“In regards to other things, I believe that the challengers this year are going to be much tougher than the ones you’ve faced in previous years. I doubt even our great Dragon Tamer himself can handle some of them. As you may already know, I’ve taken the initiative of endorsing a Trainer myself,” Rose went on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You haven’t done that since-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Since I endorsed you all those years ago, yes. Bede’s very talented already. I know that even if he doesn’t make it to Champion, he can most definitely put that talent to use elsewhere. You endorsed someone, too, haven’t you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, my brother. It’s his dream to be a part of the gym challenge. He’s idolized me for so long, and I thought it was only fair that he finally got to live his dream.” Leon felt more comfortable now, but that didn’t change the fact that he was practically discovered. Well, beggars can’t be choosers. “Hop’s got a strong start already, too. I bet he and your endorsement would be great rivals.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That would be a splendid turn of events, yes. Someone to keep each other on their toes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Leon made a soft chuckle. “Kids these days always turning out better than their elders, am I right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rose looked at him strangely, attention turning back to his paperwork. “I suppose so.” He let out a sigh. “Well, I see no reason to keep you any longer. I’m expecting big things from you as always. Galar’s proud of you, Leon; don’t let them down.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Champion ducked his head in understanding, standing. He thought twice on saying goodbye, deciding against it as he made his way out. As soon as that door shut again and he made sure the coast was clear, he lost it. His mind went all over the place, stirring a panic within himself that he was on the end of the line. Maybe Rose was right. He and Raihan just weren’t meant to be together. It’d cause too much trouble.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His heart screamed otherwise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Champ.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He yelped, jumping backwards and hitting his back against the wall. He met a pair of familiar teal eyes, relaxing a bit more. But then he panicked again, indecisive on how he should react to this at all. He felt like he was going to have a mental breakdown right this minute.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Whoah, calm down,” Raihan fretted. “You doing alright?” He suddenly grew very concerned, almost angry. “He knows, doesn’t he? Who told him? Who’s asses do I need to kick?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Leon shooed him away from being touched for reassurance, catching his breath again. “He knows.” Before Raihan could blow, Leon added quickly, “But he’s not doing anything about it yet. He just wants us to, you know, steer clear of each other for a while.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Raihan didn’t look at all convinced. “I’ll drop kick him into oblivion. Like he’s gonna keep us away from each other. Leon, look at me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He did, and it was hard to hide the tears now. Raihan’s gaze softened, and he let out a short exhale.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t lose hope just yet. Like I said earlier, even if we do lose out jobs and shit, we still have each other. Nothing can stop that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Leon rested his head on Raihan’s chest, taking deep breaths. Raihan hugged him back, still keeping an eye out for bystanders that might catch them. “Hey, it’s fine. I’ll give him a good talking to.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t dig us a deeper hole, for the love of Arceus.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Raihan laughed. “I’m kidding, babe. Now get out there and keep the fans busy. Just don’t chase them off like last time - I need my social interaction for the day, please.” With that he gave one final pat on the back before getting the guts to barge into the staff room, his calm demeanor returning to an overly angry one. Leon prayed that he wouldn’t end up getting himself not kicked, but banned from the League itself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>•••</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The mines were strangely peaceful. It reminded Eliana a little of Mount Coronet back in Sinnoh, only there were a lot more gemstones and such sticking out of crevasses in the stone, or even out of the stone walls in particular. There were a lot of pokemon native here, too. Woobat, Drilbur, Diglett, even the occasional Carkol rolling down the mineshaft rails. It didn’t seem that Hop paid any attention to them, though. He was more interested in whatever was growing out of the walls instead. She didn’t blame him - what other places could you find moss that looked like it bloomed stars?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know, you would probably make a good professor if you wanted,” Eliana said, breaking the silence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hop looked up from poking at the moss (which curled inwards at the contact) and gave her a slightly confused expression. “How come?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re interested in the nature around you. Really observant. You remind me of one of my friends from Sinnoh. Lucas was his name.” She tried recalling all the good memories she had with him, though most of them consisted of Team Galactic barging in. “He was Professor Rowan’s assistant. Never liked battling, though. He tended to keep to himself.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure,” Hop replied, hardly listening. He was back to poking the moss, getting a kick out of its responses. Scorbunny peered at it from his perch on his Trainer’s shoulder, just as amazed as he was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eliana snorted, dropping the subject since she was pretty much just talking to herself at this point. “So have you ever been here before?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, someone was short today. Eliana tried taking another approach, gesturing to a stray Rolycoly near the edge of the cavern. “Do you need any tips on battling?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is that the only word you ever say?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She contained her annoyance, clicking her tongue on the roof of her mouth. There had to be </span>
  <em>
    <span>something </span>
  </em>
  <span>she could say that would catch his attention. Maybe…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t happen to know any stories about the Darkest Day, would you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hop blinked. A reaction, thank Arceus. “What about it?” he asked slowly, almost like he was being cautious.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I dunno, what’s your favorite variation of it? I’ve been looking into it lately. Have you heard of Eternatus?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That one caught him really off-guard. “Look, everyone’s terrified to hear that name around here. Parents tell kids stories about that thing to keep them in check. ‘Don’t go into the woods, Eternatus will get you.’ ‘Didn’t do your chores? Eternatus will make sure you do. He’ll take care of that with a little mind control’. Honestly? I’d rather not mess with that.” He stood up straight, brushing a little dirt off his jacket. “If you’re that interested, ask Raihan, not me. He’s the one that knows all that stuff. Won’t shut up about it, either.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I kind of figured,” Eliana admitted. “I just thought that you might know a little bit.” She’d certainly learned something from him. Eternatus was definitely not a pretty kind being. At least in legends where he was real. Apart from being a monster, mind control was part of it? Sounded a little far fetched, but who knew when it came to legends that were thousands of years old. There were pokemon out there that could control minds, like Hypno for instance, who would lure away children with hypnotism to do whatever it did to them when they were taken. Those kids never came back. It was part of the reason Eliana was terrified to set foot in any pace that had wild Drowzee or Hypno around.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>To be completely honest, she actually had an incident with one of those creeps. It was back in her early days of being a Trainer, and she had been wandering around the Old Chateau in search of the rumored Rotom that lived around there. She didn’t believe in ghosts. All of that was a pile of Tauros shit, but there had been some weird things that happened while she was there. Hypno being one of them. She didn’t know how she escaped exactly, but she did remember that it had done something to her mind where she didn’t feel right when she came to. The people that had quote unquote “rescued her” had gone on a rant about how dangerous it was for little kids like her to be playing in a place like that. All in all, it was something that haunted her nightmares once in a while.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you even listening to me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eliana snapped out of her thoughts. “Sorry, what’d you say?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I </span>
  <em>
    <span>said </span>
  </em>
  <span>that you could try talking to Sonia too about those legends. She likes that stuff,” Hop repeated, but his words trailed off as his attention was drawn by something behind the Champion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eliana turned to see what he was looking at, squinting to see in the darkness. Something was moving in those shadows. Something big. It didn’t look like anything that belonged in these mines at all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Get behind me,” she whispered harshly, going for one of the pokeballs on her belt. She waited to see if the shape would move at all before reacting; there was no need to get worked up over something that might not even want to harm them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It turned out that it was just a shadow of a pokemon when a bright flash showed up on the cavern walls, revealing the full shape of the pokemon. Eliana gasped. Those weren’t native here, now were they?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her only signal to follow the source of the commotion was a shout, then a pained pokemon cry. She gestured for Hop to follow, running around the corner to see what was happening.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was an Absol, crouched close enough to the ground that its belly fur scratched the stone. It was breathing heavily, obviously distressed, and its ruff stood on end in a defensive pose.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is that?” Hop asked, voice hardly audible. “Rotom?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His Rotom phone zipped close enough to do a quick scan before the Absol discovered it and lashed out, but it quickly turned away to face its unseen opponent.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Absol, the disaster pokemon. Absol live in the mountains, steering clear from people. Elders believe it to be a being of evil, as it always appears before disasters happen. Though this theory was proven that it senses disasters and warns others before they happen, not bring them,” it recited, displaying a clear image on the screen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hop looked at it for a good while before looking back at Eliana. “It’s different. Why is it like a pinkish color when this one’s blue?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That,” Eliana breathed, “is a shiny.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hop gaped, nearly dropping his phone. Luckily Rotom was there, levitating himself before hitting the ground. “A </span>
  <em>
    <span>what</span>
  </em>
  <span>?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Elaina shushed him, making him crouch back down again. “There might be hunters,” she explained, to which Hop nodded in understanding.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Absol leaped into the air to dodge an oncoming sphere of psychic energy, not that it would affect it anyways. It snarled, taking a step back. It surely could defend itself, so why back into a corner like that? A glimmer of red answered Eliana’s questions. There were gemstones. A lot of them. The Absol must be protecting them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Give it up already!” a voice sounded from out of sight, and both Trainers perked up. That didn’t sound good at all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hop frowned, narrowing his eyes and seemingly determined to ruin this guy’s day. Eliana had to drag him back down again, giving him an angry glare.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was the Trainer that had given him a rough time before. He had a Solosis at his side, seemingly pitiful when going against something like an Absol. Unless it knew something like Focus Blast (which surely it didn’t), it was useless in this battle. It didn’t seem affected by the odds, though, hovering around and shooting more spheres of energy at the Absol like it was playing. The Absol was having none of it, sometimes taking the hits to protect the gemstones. Even though they did nothing, it still seemed exhausted from keeping up this act for so long. It seemed about ready to collapse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This was unacceptable.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Specere,” Eliana whispered, calling out her Inteleon. She crouched down, too, already assessing the situation before being told what to do. “You know the drill. Just like the good old days.” She nodded, going practically invisible thanks to her camouflage skills.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Something like this happened a long time ago, while Eliana had been storming one of Galactic’s headquarters. She had sent Specere in with full camo, sneaking up on one of the guards and taking them out without causing any kind of ruckus. She’d used this strategy dozens of times to sneak in past security, but this was different.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Just as the Trainer went to issue another command, Specere was already there, clasping a hand over his mouth and materializing. For extra emphasis, she held a finger to his head like a gun, seeing as she could easily take his brains out with a single Snipe Shot. A little extreme, but effective.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Great job, girl,” Eliana praised, approaching her Inteleon with pride. The Absol, confused and startled, growled and sank lower to the ground.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you doing?” Hop demanded. “Are you trying to kill him or something?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>No</span>
  </em>
  <span>, I’m just making sure he’s not going anywhere. Specere, you can let go now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Inteleon nodded, stepping back and yet still holding her index finger to the Trainer’s temple, ready to fire on command.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What in the name of Arceus is wrong with you? Are you bloody mad?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Trainer’s Solosis squeaked in concern, turning to him and deciding on whether it was better to hang back or step in. Hop was the one that answered, becoming enraged.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are </span>
  <em>
    <span>we </span>
  </em>
  <span>doing? What gave you the grand idea to torture a pokemon?” He was fuming, and Eliana had to hold him back from getting too close. “No one stoops that low, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Bede</span>
  </em>
  <span>. If anyone around here is mad, it’s you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So Bede was his name. More leverage to work with for Eliana.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not abusing it. I just need what it has,” Bede snapped. He went to step forwards, but Specere snagged his ankle with her tail, making him stumble instead. He cursed, shooting an angry glare at the Inteleon. “Stay out of my way. Unless you </span>
  <em>
    <span>want </span>
  </em>
  <span>to be beaten again.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hop froze. Eliana looked back and forth between the two. Alright, so something definitely went down. It must have been over a battle, but no loss should hurt that bad. Unless it was something more than the loss itself. Whoever this Bede character was, he seemed like the kind of person to crush what was left of people’s confidence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you needed it so bad that you’re forcing the pokemon to give it up? Have you tried asking?” Eliana hissed. She looked back at the Absol, who was taking this as a chance to take a breather.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s a </span>
  <em>
    <span>pokemon</span>
  </em>
  <span>, not a person,” Bede replied shortly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She couldn’t believe this guy. All pokemon had feelings. What did he take them for, nothing but tools for his amusement? That was messed up. Hop looked like he was about ready to blow a fuse again, trying his best to contain himself. For who seemed like a calm kid, he had a pretty short temper. At least for when it came to stuff like this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eliana glared down at Bede, trying to find the right words. “Whatever the reason, it can’t be that valuable. There’s millions of other gemstones around here, so why not give up and look elsewhere.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Those aren’t just any old rocks, lady,” Bede began, but was cut off by Hop.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Those are Wishing Stars.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That made her think for a second. Wishing Stars. Like the ones mentioned by that one person in the book from the library. The kind of stuff used to dynamax and Gigantamax pokemon. So this is what they looked like. You had to have had a keen eye to tell them apart from other gems and crystals in the cavern.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But what would an Absol want with them?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then look somewhere else. This one is clearly trying to protect them for a reason,” Eliana tried convincing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bede glared at her. “I’ve been told to collect every Wishing Star I can find. Those are no exception,” he growled. “Get off!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Specere hardly flinched, only moving closer instead of farther away. Her tail lashed, ready to pounce at any given moment. She looked like she’d take his head off if he moved even an inch.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Absol was calmed down a little, but it still eyed them with a heated hatred. It hovered over the Wishing Stars, still unsure on who to trust in this situation. It looked Eliana right in the eyes for a moment, then went back to giving Bede a death stare.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She’s not gonna move until you give up,” Eliana explained, giving Specere an encouraging smirk. “Come on, it’s pointless. Get out of here before you get yourself hurt.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The Chairman </span>
  <em>
    <span>will </span>
  </em>
  <span>know about this.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The </span>
  <em>
    <span>Champion </span>
  </em>
  <span>will know about this too,” Hop snarled back. “You’re forgetting who I’m endorsed by.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bede seemed to smile, and it wasn’t friendly either. “You seem to forget your place. The Chairman is much more important than you precious Champion. Without Rose, Leon would still be a regular boy in Postwick. I doubt you’re just as good.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hop seemed to shrink back, eyes blown wide. He went to say something, but shut his mouth. Bede kept going.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Poor Leon, having a brother like you. Someone to just distract him when he needs to work, and what’s worse, you’re making him look bad. Losing all the time is telling us that it runs in the family. Leon’s hardly had any competition his entire life, and it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>my </span>
  </em>
  <span>job to make sure that changes. Sorry, farmer boy, but you should give up while you still have the chance. Or are you too scared to admit that you’re weak? To make yourself look like a complete fraud and coward?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hop shook his head, looking to the ground. Shit, was he gonna cry? Eliana panicked. This was exactly what happened to Barry back at Lake Acuity. Jupiter had completely crushed his confidence, and Barry wasn’t the kind of person to give in to that kind of talk. She didn’t know Hop that well; who knew what this kind of treatment would do to him?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She decided enough was enough.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stop that. Bullying him won’t help at all. Just get out of here, man, you’ve done enough,” she admonished.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bede narrowed his eyes, giving Hop one final once-over before turning on his heel to make his way out of the mines. Specere made sure he was far enough away before returning to her Trainer’s side, giving a nod of approval.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hop watched him go, seemingly trying extremely hard to hold back his tears. He mumbled something inaudible under his breath, and Scorbunny gave him reassuring words - to the best of his ability, at least.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eliana would have talked to him if it weren’t for the Absol. She felt something brush against her leg, and she looked down to see the pokemon at her feet. “Oh, hello there,” she greeted, a little cautious before trying to reach down and pet it. The Absol drew back a little, sniffing at her hand before allowing her to stroke the top of its head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her head. It was a girl.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now what are you doing in a place like this? You don’t live here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Absol flinched, taking a step back. She looked at the Wishing Stars, going back to start covering them with dirt. Probably hiding them so they wouldn’t be found again. But as one tumbled away from the rest, she peered down at it, then back up at Eliana. She took it between her teeth, walking forwards to place it at her feet, then sitting down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re giving it to me?” Eliana asked, picking it up. She felt a sudden rush of a strange sensation, almost like a force pushing down on her chest. She was tempted to drop it, but she was also drawn to whatever power was underneath that crystal casing. Were those mini red clouds under there?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sol,” the Absol stated, standing. She went to turn away, but Eliana called her back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, are you sure you’re gonna be alright out here?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She didn’t look back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve got an open spot on my team if you want to tag along. I’m not going to hurt you, I promise.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Absol stood still for a long while, letting the glow of the gemstones around them to reflect on her sparkly fur. She ducked her head for a second, then looked back, seemingly curious.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You were brought here by hunters, weren’t you?” Eliana knelt down, letting the Absol come to her before she brushed back its mane to view a burned-on marking. Definitely hunters. They always tagged their catches in the most inhumane ways possible.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Absol stared back, judging Eliana’s every move.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Champion fished a pokeball out of her bag, holding it out to the pokemon. “It’s a luxury ball,” she said, letting Absol sniff at it. “It’s entirely your choice, though. If you don’t want to come along, then I underst-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Absol disappeared with a flash of red light, and the pokeball in Eliana’s hand gave an immediate and satisfying </span>
  <em>
    <span>click</span>
  </em>
  <span>. She stood there in stupor, unsure on how to react to that. Well, she supposed she had an Absol now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A </span>
  <em>
    <span>shiny </span>
  </em>
  <span>Absol.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hop stared at her. “Leon’s gonna lose it,” he commented, and Eliana couldn’t help but bark out a laugh in response.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>What the hell are you going on about?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“I mean that I need to see you in person, Raihan. Honestly you’re about as observant as a Skitty.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was an exasperated sigh on the other end of the line. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Sorry, not interested. Go find some other handsome devil to gawk at.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“What? No! Not-” Eliana was about to lose it with this man, keeping her cool the best she could. “I’ve got something I need to know about. Look, just tell me anything you know about Eternatus.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was silent for a long time. Eliana freaked out, thinking she lost connection before Raihan finally responded. “I haven’t heard that name in a long time,” he said slowly, stretching out the word “long”. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“What are you doing messing around with something like that? If you grew up in Galar, you should know plenty already.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s been a long time,” Eliana lied. She had honestly never heard anything about Eternatus until recently. “Refresh my memory.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Raihan growled to himself, and there was the sound of something moving on the other end. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“What do you want to know?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Anything.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Well.”</span>
  </em>
  <span> The sound of book pages fluttering caused the phone to crackle a little. Did he just have these things on hand constantly? </span>
  <em>
    <span>“There’s a lot of things about it. He was a god way back when. People said it fell from the stars, a gift from Arceus himself. People worshipped that thing to no end, El. It wasn’t a good thing, either. First it was gifts, then it was sacrifices. There were cults formed around that monster. People started to notice something was off, but Eternatus caught on and forced them to follow his orders. Mind control. That’s when people started disappearing.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Eliana blinked, trying to take this all in. The entire time she was furiously jotting down notes as fast as she could, trying to catch up. “So wait, this thing used humans as slaves?”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Basically. There were a few individuals he couldn’t reach. One of them was Galar’s king. There was an uprising, and eventually Eternatus gathered enough energy to call up the Darkest Day. It was like he fed off of negative energy.”</span>
  </em>
  <span> More page flipping, and then there was another sigh. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Then the Sword and Shield struck him down, a hero was born - or heroes, maybe heroes and their pokemon, who knows. All that old stuff that everyone around Galar knows by heart. Some say Eternatus ran away back to the stars, others say that he was shattered into pieces. That’s how Wishing Stars were found. A lot of people still think that they’re little scattered pieces of Eternatus, which is why you don’t see everyone being so enthusiastic about the whole dynamaxing thing. They know what they come from, and they know how evil it was.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you’re sure that’s how it all went down?”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Says right here in the King’s diary.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where even are you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Hammerlocke’s library. I come here weekly.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>She couldn’t believe him. He definitely didn’t seem like the booksmart kind of person at all. This whole thing had honestly caught Eliana by major surprise. The most striking thing about it was that Eternatus was real. Why else would the King himself write about it?  It sounded like this Eternatus thing was a terrifying and manipulative beast, not a pokemon. From the stars, huh? An invasive species, then. It didn’t belong here in the first place.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eliana glanced at her newly obtained Wishing Star, wondering what it really was. “Hey Raihan, are Absol native here?”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“N-no. Just in the Crown Tundra, but that’s hardly part of Galar. Why?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“So they shouldn’t be randomly showing up in the mines, then.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“What the fuck happened out there? Are you summoning demons or some shit?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“I wish. Anyways, I’m at Turffield now. Any word from Leon or did he get hopelessly lost again?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Raihan laughed. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“I’ll check up on him. Tell Hop I told him good luck on his first gym. Now that you’ve distracted me from my work, I have to reread the entire document on why Charizard isn’t a dragon-type,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>he complained. Though he was probably just going to do it again for the hell of it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The conversation ended there, leaving Eliana to herself again. Well, her and the Wishing Star, which she felt like was sentient and was staring at her. A stupid assumption, but after hearing what she did about Eternatus, it was entirely possible. She put it back in her bag, where it wouldn’t be giving her creepy vibes anymore, and tried to straighten her notes. And boy was her handwriting sloppy when it was rushed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She suddenly felt extremely tired.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>hehe anxiety leon and depression hop go brrrrrr</p><p>The new Discord Server is open. Due to some technical difficulties, I deleted the old one to make way for a better one. Join here: https://discord.gg/vDuJcyH</p><p>hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I've finally outlined my entire plot for this, so be ready for more updates. I'm working on the next few chapters as we speak, so hang in there y'all. In the meantime you can check out my tumblr for more Legendary content (contains spoilers for future entries): https://www.tumblr.com/blog/foxyslegendarydump</p></blockquote></div></div>
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